In our quilt guild we have many branches of service to and from our members. The classes we arrange are for the members to increase their skills in quilting and the 'from' part consists of my part in the organization.
We have a group that meets the fourth Monday of each month except December and we accept donations of fabric from just about anywhere but mostly our fabrics come from the members or their estates. Consequently, we have about 20 totes that are filled to capacity with fabric that we use to make quilts to be donated to the various agencies in our area.
Last month my helper and I called all the agencies that have been serviced in the past to see if they were still in need. One agency informed me that their leader was on vacation but that they would contact me when she returned.
My phone rang and when I answered it, a voice on the other end asked me if I was still interested in being a client in their housing facility - a women's shelter. You can imagine how surprised I was to get that phone call. After some talking it was determined that my name had been indeed taken for the leader to contact, but had been put on the wrong message pad and so I was being contacted to see if I still needed their services.
The sad part about it was that this agency was in need of 7 quilts. 3 teen aged children, one 8yr old, one 4yr old a one yr old baby and a tentative client who was also 4 yrs old. Because we did not get their phone call in the expected period of time, we had distributed the pile of quilts that we had on hand.....and we had none to give to the shelter.
Each month, the community quilts group gives their time to make quilt tops from our fabric totes and at work day, we sandwich the quilts with batt and backing and then roll them into a bundle for distribution to those who want to quilt them for us or tie them whichever they are able to do it is ok. With no quilts to help out this need at the shelter, I put out an SOS on the guild grapevine - an email that goes to all the quilter group members. Before the weekend was over, I had received 15 quilts and at our reguilar business meeting this week 25 more quilts for the community quilt project were turned in for display in the church where we meet.
So, today I went to the women's shelter to deliver 6 quilts - these are adult size and I also took 12 quilts to the Court Appointed Advocate group at the Juvenile Detention Center in readiness for the upcoming National Adoption day in November. They expect to have around 67 adoptions take place that day. Each adoptee gets to pick out a quilt that our community quilts people have made from the donated fabrics.
We had a request from one of the advocates at Catholic Charities for a quilt to be raffled at a benefit dinner at a local church early next month. The money raised from this raffle is earmarked for underwear for the teenage girls that are in the "Teen Closet" population.
The lady I talked to had, at one time or another been homeless while growing up and has experienced at first hand what it is to be in dire need of everyday items. She was ever so thankful that we had singled out one of the quilts for her to use as a raffle quilt to raise money for her group.
Oh yes, it is a lot of work to be head of this committee to do compassionate service to the community, but the people I have met so far have been such wonderful caring individuals and I admire them for the work they do to help those who stand in need at this point in their lives.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Processes of mourning
When I travel anywhere I usually take along some sort of hand work. Presently I am working on 3/4 inch hexagons to make a fabric from them to be used in a garment. It will take many of these small hexagons to make a decent piece of fabric from which I can cut the bodice of the Uptown Jacket pattern I just purchased. I feel that anyone can go into a store and purchase garments, but sometimes they are just like cookie cutter garments - everyone has one - and there is no distinction between what I have and what others have, therefore, I like to make my own garments and I feel happy inside them. Some years ago I made a jacket out of greens of all shades blending into the green/yellow range. I called it the Red Eyed Green Tree Frog and I wore it happily until I spilled something on it and then had to wash it. That was a disaster because I had used both batik and regular fabric. The batik has been through many washings during the preparation of the fabric but the regular fabric does not go through a washing process and therefore has not been shrunk. Well, I have a mess on my hands and in deep mourning over the jacket. However, I am about to 'unstitch' it and make it into another garment for me to wear - I have also lost a lot of weight since I made the jacket and it is way too big for me.
I took a hexagon project with me to work with on the plane to Nebraska and was sure I had made many of the little hexagons on the plane but when I looked for them in Nebraska I could not find them. I really doubt that I left them on the plane - that is not my nature - however, the deepest mourning for the hexagons was not the finished items, but the small blue scissors I was sure I had taken with me. These are EXTREMELY sharp and made of tungston steel and can do some real damage to human fingers that get in the way of the blades. They are less than 3 inches long so the TSA says we can take them on the plane - however they could be lethal if I had that sort of inclination. When I could not find the finished hexagons that I was certain I had worked on during the flight, it occurred to me that I had also lost my little blue scissors. Now that was a tragedy because they cost me a small fortune at a quilt show....and I have not seen them anywhere else since them. I mourned the loss but said - well, maybe one day I will find another pair to take their place. Imagine my happiness when I was in my sewing room to find my little blue scissors, all snug and happy on my sewing machine and knowing that they are not lost in some airport or airplane.
When were were in Nebraska, Jacob and Sara wanted us to move in with them and live there. I know that this is not a good scenario unless THERE IS A DEFINITE NEED for this to take place. They have a house with three levels. Our bedroom would be on the ground floor (read that basement) and to join the family on the living area we have 20 steps up. The main bedrooms are on the top floor and the residents of this house are much younger than I and my knees kept telling me that this was not going to work. As I age I am not sure of my footing and with small children scrabbling around on the floor (read that Lyla, Oliver and soon August) I could trip over children and that would not be good.
Oh, the house is large enough to accommodate all of us - including David if it came down to that, but the most definite problem would be the severe winters that they have in that part of the country. I do not do cold weather very well any more. Prescott's weather is much more suited to my physical needs and the aches that come with really cold weather such as in Nebraska are not present here in Arizona. On the one hand it would be wonderful to live close to the grandchildren and to have constant contact with them, but close proximity means enduring the freezing temperatures of the mid west. So I am in mourning over this as well. My grandmothers heart wants to be close to the grand children, but my physical body says that this is not a good idea. Oh, yes, there are people living there who are my age, but they have lived there since they were young, and they are used to the severe change of seasons that they experience. Even Sara was raised in Snow country in Johnstown, Pa and Jacob was raised in the harsh weather of Wyoming so the cold does not bother them. I , on the other hand was raised in Hot and Dry Australia and I like it that way.
I came home from Nebraska to my clothes and possessions after living out of a suitcase for 8 weeks. I took minimal clothing so that I was under the weight limit for the plane. I came to the USA with one suitcase and what I stood up in and now I have a house full of "STUFF". So I did a major clean out of my closet and some lucky soul who has gone shopping at Catholic Charities has the opportunity to wear the clothes that I can no longer wear - either too short, too big or too small. I hope to achieve a happy medium with clothing one of these days but I certainly do not want to shop at the upscale stores where they sell Stodgy looking matronly clothes - but I do qualify as a Matron I suppose, but I do not want to wear such stuffy looking clothes.....nor do I want to pay the price they are asking. The next thing I have on my list is to reduce my possessions to a minimum - I own too much stuff and I have absolutely no idea how it all came into my house. I seem to attract stuff like a magnet!!!
I just hate it when stuff breaks. I think that our refrigerator has broken because it is leaving puddles of water on the floor. So I took off the grille that is on the bottom and found that every dust bunny in the world had taken up residence on the coils under the fridge. So I got the vacuum out and tried to suck the little creatures out but some of them are rather stubborn. So I got out the Swiffer long handled duster and shoved that into the bowls of the fridge and got out many more hiding dust bunnies. I just hope that I have not done more damage than good. The fridge is almost 14 years old and with planned obsolesence that the manufacturers build into these wonders of the modern world, I think that it has probably run its course. The fridge we had in Mesa was on its last legs only after 5 years and that was disappointing. I left it in the house for the next people to worry about.
So, we mourn the loss of some silly things but most of all we mourn the loss of 'time' - it seems to go way too fast these days.
I took a hexagon project with me to work with on the plane to Nebraska and was sure I had made many of the little hexagons on the plane but when I looked for them in Nebraska I could not find them. I really doubt that I left them on the plane - that is not my nature - however, the deepest mourning for the hexagons was not the finished items, but the small blue scissors I was sure I had taken with me. These are EXTREMELY sharp and made of tungston steel and can do some real damage to human fingers that get in the way of the blades. They are less than 3 inches long so the TSA says we can take them on the plane - however they could be lethal if I had that sort of inclination. When I could not find the finished hexagons that I was certain I had worked on during the flight, it occurred to me that I had also lost my little blue scissors. Now that was a tragedy because they cost me a small fortune at a quilt show....and I have not seen them anywhere else since them. I mourned the loss but said - well, maybe one day I will find another pair to take their place. Imagine my happiness when I was in my sewing room to find my little blue scissors, all snug and happy on my sewing machine and knowing that they are not lost in some airport or airplane.
When were were in Nebraska, Jacob and Sara wanted us to move in with them and live there. I know that this is not a good scenario unless THERE IS A DEFINITE NEED for this to take place. They have a house with three levels. Our bedroom would be on the ground floor (read that basement) and to join the family on the living area we have 20 steps up. The main bedrooms are on the top floor and the residents of this house are much younger than I and my knees kept telling me that this was not going to work. As I age I am not sure of my footing and with small children scrabbling around on the floor (read that Lyla, Oliver and soon August) I could trip over children and that would not be good.
Oh, the house is large enough to accommodate all of us - including David if it came down to that, but the most definite problem would be the severe winters that they have in that part of the country. I do not do cold weather very well any more. Prescott's weather is much more suited to my physical needs and the aches that come with really cold weather such as in Nebraska are not present here in Arizona. On the one hand it would be wonderful to live close to the grandchildren and to have constant contact with them, but close proximity means enduring the freezing temperatures of the mid west. So I am in mourning over this as well. My grandmothers heart wants to be close to the grand children, but my physical body says that this is not a good idea. Oh, yes, there are people living there who are my age, but they have lived there since they were young, and they are used to the severe change of seasons that they experience. Even Sara was raised in Snow country in Johnstown, Pa and Jacob was raised in the harsh weather of Wyoming so the cold does not bother them. I , on the other hand was raised in Hot and Dry Australia and I like it that way.
I came home from Nebraska to my clothes and possessions after living out of a suitcase for 8 weeks. I took minimal clothing so that I was under the weight limit for the plane. I came to the USA with one suitcase and what I stood up in and now I have a house full of "STUFF". So I did a major clean out of my closet and some lucky soul who has gone shopping at Catholic Charities has the opportunity to wear the clothes that I can no longer wear - either too short, too big or too small. I hope to achieve a happy medium with clothing one of these days but I certainly do not want to shop at the upscale stores where they sell Stodgy looking matronly clothes - but I do qualify as a Matron I suppose, but I do not want to wear such stuffy looking clothes.....nor do I want to pay the price they are asking. The next thing I have on my list is to reduce my possessions to a minimum - I own too much stuff and I have absolutely no idea how it all came into my house. I seem to attract stuff like a magnet!!!
I just hate it when stuff breaks. I think that our refrigerator has broken because it is leaving puddles of water on the floor. So I took off the grille that is on the bottom and found that every dust bunny in the world had taken up residence on the coils under the fridge. So I got the vacuum out and tried to suck the little creatures out but some of them are rather stubborn. So I got out the Swiffer long handled duster and shoved that into the bowls of the fridge and got out many more hiding dust bunnies. I just hope that I have not done more damage than good. The fridge is almost 14 years old and with planned obsolesence that the manufacturers build into these wonders of the modern world, I think that it has probably run its course. The fridge we had in Mesa was on its last legs only after 5 years and that was disappointing. I left it in the house for the next people to worry about.
So, we mourn the loss of some silly things but most of all we mourn the loss of 'time' - it seems to go way too fast these days.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
In and out of the blender
I spent 8 weeks in Nebraska with Sara and Family. Initially I was there to babysit the kids while Sara was finishing up working for the Nebraska School District and I stayed till 17 July.
It was difficult being in this household for so long - mainly because my life has moved on from the child raising mode to the 'almost retired but not quite' mode. The difference between the way I was raised, and the way I chose to raise my children and the way my grandchildren are being raised is quite stark. For instance, I had story books that I read - some of them just fell apart from over use. TV was not available and radio was all we had. I liked to listen to "The Lady" as I called her. She was a voice on the radio that told stories for little kids, taught us songs and had us doing rolling around on the floor exercises a few days a week. Mostly I just played outside in the sunshine and fresh air. My parents read to me a lot and I had loads of Little Golden Books that were were well memorized from being read to me.
My own children were kept busy with plenty of crayons, paper, glue, tape and loads of imagination. I would have Bill bring home Pampers Boxes from the pharmacy and these boxes became cars, boats, space ships, play houses, doll hospitals, hiding places, flimisy trampolines and provided hours of fun for my children. When the box became unrecognizable or vandalized by sharp objects like scissors, it was simply discarded and a new box appeared from the pharmacy and my children occupied themselves with the new box till it also was demolished. We had Sara take dance classes and she was also in Brownies and for a short time she took Gymnastics at the request of her dance teacher to improve her flexibility. David took Gymnastics in the hope that it would help his co-ordination but he could not stand still in line waiting for his turn. He was in scouts as a cub and then as a boy scout and earned his Eagle Rank. He is very proud of his Eagle rank. We went hiking at the trails at UPJ (University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown) and also went to Wolf Rocks at a nearby state park. There was plenty to keep them busy. From time to time we had TV but did not watch it much....no time!
Sara's children are natives of the pushbutton generation and are total tecchie tots. If I got stuck on Angry Birds (and that is often) I would hand my Iphone to Oliver and he would just sail through the level and the next two or three levels as well and then hand it back to me. I can hand my Iphone or Ipad to any of the three of them and they know instantly how to make it do something other than be a very expensive mini computer with icons on the screen.
The highlights of the 8 weeks were successful fishing trips by Jacob and the children to a nearby pond and I cooked the fish for them. Lyla had a Dance Recital and her question to many people was "Have you been on stage?" I have been on stage in my dance recital. Bill and David came to visit and that created an interesting situation - there were two sets of parents and two sets of children in the house. Bill and I as parents of Sara and David and Sara and Jacob as parents of Ethan, Oliver, Lyla and the newest Friest edition, August. We were all focused on the birth of August but Sara wanted to wait till after the 4th July celebrations. Well, we should say, August waited to make his appearance until after the 4th July celebrations. The amount of fireworks that were ignited that night made the whole place sound like a war zone. It is a wonder the little fellow was not scared into being born due to the noise, or perhaps he felt it was safer to be inside the womb than outside with all the racket the fireworks were making. I have no idea how much money was spent, but the after math was bits and pieces of fireworks littering the roads, sidewalks and front lawns. I was amazed to see the lanterns that were floating in the sky. Of course any fireworks no matter how large or small are totally unwelcome in Arizona.....this place is one great tinderbox and a stray spark would level Prescott in short order if it got into the dry grass.
So August arrived and I got to hold him when he was only a few hours old. I have never been near a baby that young before. Sara did well and we are all surprised at how well she did. I made him an outfit for his blessing and I made it out of fabric left over from Sara's wedding gown. Ethan's blessing outfit was of silk charmeuse, Oliver's outfit was made of Silk Dupioni, and Lyla's blessing dress was made of brocaded satin with pretty butterflies woven into it. If Sara has another baby, I have no idea what to make the blessing outfit of - perhaps some patchwork calicoes?????
It was difficult being in this household for so long - mainly because my life has moved on from the child raising mode to the 'almost retired but not quite' mode. The difference between the way I was raised, and the way I chose to raise my children and the way my grandchildren are being raised is quite stark. For instance, I had story books that I read - some of them just fell apart from over use. TV was not available and radio was all we had. I liked to listen to "The Lady" as I called her. She was a voice on the radio that told stories for little kids, taught us songs and had us doing rolling around on the floor exercises a few days a week. Mostly I just played outside in the sunshine and fresh air. My parents read to me a lot and I had loads of Little Golden Books that were were well memorized from being read to me.
My own children were kept busy with plenty of crayons, paper, glue, tape and loads of imagination. I would have Bill bring home Pampers Boxes from the pharmacy and these boxes became cars, boats, space ships, play houses, doll hospitals, hiding places, flimisy trampolines and provided hours of fun for my children. When the box became unrecognizable or vandalized by sharp objects like scissors, it was simply discarded and a new box appeared from the pharmacy and my children occupied themselves with the new box till it also was demolished. We had Sara take dance classes and she was also in Brownies and for a short time she took Gymnastics at the request of her dance teacher to improve her flexibility. David took Gymnastics in the hope that it would help his co-ordination but he could not stand still in line waiting for his turn. He was in scouts as a cub and then as a boy scout and earned his Eagle Rank. He is very proud of his Eagle rank. We went hiking at the trails at UPJ (University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown) and also went to Wolf Rocks at a nearby state park. There was plenty to keep them busy. From time to time we had TV but did not watch it much....no time!
Sara's children are natives of the pushbutton generation and are total tecchie tots. If I got stuck on Angry Birds (and that is often) I would hand my Iphone to Oliver and he would just sail through the level and the next two or three levels as well and then hand it back to me. I can hand my Iphone or Ipad to any of the three of them and they know instantly how to make it do something other than be a very expensive mini computer with icons on the screen.
The highlights of the 8 weeks were successful fishing trips by Jacob and the children to a nearby pond and I cooked the fish for them. Lyla had a Dance Recital and her question to many people was "Have you been on stage?" I have been on stage in my dance recital. Bill and David came to visit and that created an interesting situation - there were two sets of parents and two sets of children in the house. Bill and I as parents of Sara and David and Sara and Jacob as parents of Ethan, Oliver, Lyla and the newest Friest edition, August. We were all focused on the birth of August but Sara wanted to wait till after the 4th July celebrations. Well, we should say, August waited to make his appearance until after the 4th July celebrations. The amount of fireworks that were ignited that night made the whole place sound like a war zone. It is a wonder the little fellow was not scared into being born due to the noise, or perhaps he felt it was safer to be inside the womb than outside with all the racket the fireworks were making. I have no idea how much money was spent, but the after math was bits and pieces of fireworks littering the roads, sidewalks and front lawns. I was amazed to see the lanterns that were floating in the sky. Of course any fireworks no matter how large or small are totally unwelcome in Arizona.....this place is one great tinderbox and a stray spark would level Prescott in short order if it got into the dry grass.
So August arrived and I got to hold him when he was only a few hours old. I have never been near a baby that young before. Sara did well and we are all surprised at how well she did. I made him an outfit for his blessing and I made it out of fabric left over from Sara's wedding gown. Ethan's blessing outfit was of silk charmeuse, Oliver's outfit was made of Silk Dupioni, and Lyla's blessing dress was made of brocaded satin with pretty butterflies woven into it. If Sara has another baby, I have no idea what to make the blessing outfit of - perhaps some patchwork calicoes?????
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Wednesday June 5 , 2013
Ethan has started back to Gymnastics. I have no idea how he can do any of the stuff I see him and his class mates do - but they manage to do the twists, turns, jumps etc. with aplomb.
As the boys exited the gym, I noted that they were all very serious minded young men and quite good looking - the bunch of them. Yep, I can see them at the Olympics some day - and every young woman in the world will drool over how handsome they are.....although I wonder just how many of these boys will stick it out to that level. After all the whole gym smells like foot odor. I guess if you want to be a gymnast, foot odor and chalk are part and parcel of your existence.
The new house has a vast garden of mint plants that have gone absolutely wild. Jacob has lamented that the place looks really overgrown - and it does. So this morning, the children and I went out to pull mint up by its roots. We had a great time. In the middle of this chore, the siren went off for the tornado warning system. It is very loud and I doubt if anyone would not hear it. The kids thought we should go to the basement, but the sky was clear blue and no cloud to be seen. So I had them keep pulling mint out of the ground. there was a large stand of sunflowers in the middle of it and those got pulled out as well. Under the overgrowth, I found some strawberries growing. I showed them to the children, and Lyla reached down and pulled it off the vine and then complained that it was not red, like the ones from the store. We told her not to puck the strawberry but she would not listen. I was totally surprised to find the strawberry plants.
there were a lot of ladybugs on the mint. Two of them were mating and Oliver observed them and said, I guess they really like each other because one of them is hugging the other one.
For a break in the day, we went to "Lost in Fun" and the kids had a great time. It is a play place where kids can be kids and no one gets excited about squealing, laughter, running, jumping, sliding etc. Got a 15% discount for taking three with me, but the food there was VERY EXPENSIVE, so we did not eat there but rather came home to snack before going to pick up Sara from her last day of work and then take Ethan to Gymnastics.
I think the kids had a wonderful day.
As the boys exited the gym, I noted that they were all very serious minded young men and quite good looking - the bunch of them. Yep, I can see them at the Olympics some day - and every young woman in the world will drool over how handsome they are.....although I wonder just how many of these boys will stick it out to that level. After all the whole gym smells like foot odor. I guess if you want to be a gymnast, foot odor and chalk are part and parcel of your existence.
The new house has a vast garden of mint plants that have gone absolutely wild. Jacob has lamented that the place looks really overgrown - and it does. So this morning, the children and I went out to pull mint up by its roots. We had a great time. In the middle of this chore, the siren went off for the tornado warning system. It is very loud and I doubt if anyone would not hear it. The kids thought we should go to the basement, but the sky was clear blue and no cloud to be seen. So I had them keep pulling mint out of the ground. there was a large stand of sunflowers in the middle of it and those got pulled out as well. Under the overgrowth, I found some strawberries growing. I showed them to the children, and Lyla reached down and pulled it off the vine and then complained that it was not red, like the ones from the store. We told her not to puck the strawberry but she would not listen. I was totally surprised to find the strawberry plants.
there were a lot of ladybugs on the mint. Two of them were mating and Oliver observed them and said, I guess they really like each other because one of them is hugging the other one.
For a break in the day, we went to "Lost in Fun" and the kids had a great time. It is a play place where kids can be kids and no one gets excited about squealing, laughter, running, jumping, sliding etc. Got a 15% discount for taking three with me, but the food there was VERY EXPENSIVE, so we did not eat there but rather came home to snack before going to pick up Sara from her last day of work and then take Ethan to Gymnastics.
I think the kids had a wonderful day.
The exciting trip to Nebraska
My trip to Nebraska began at Prescott at 11am shuttle to
Phoenix. Bill thought I was being
excessive in leaving 4 hours before the plane left, but you are required to be
at the airport 2 hours before the plane leaves so that you can go through the
rigmarole of the TSA requirements. What
a pain that has turned out to be but we like cattle submit to the impersonal
and sometimes demeaning processes these TSA people put us through. Sometimes I think they have some sort of
superiority complex that requires them to use their power to make everyone
cower before them. I guess some people
have to get their jollies somehow and at the expense of the traveling public
seems to be the ticket. They terrorize
little children by wanting to tear their favorite teddy bear open in an attempt
to prove that the little kid is trying to smuggle drugs on board inside their
very much loved and presently very raggedy bear. It has its eyes and fur loved off and foot
chewed beyond recognition. They also
round up frail old ladies in wheel chairs and frisk them for drugs or bombs
while allowing fully robed and cloaked Muslim people through without so much as
a ‘wanding’. They don’t want to be
accused of profiling!
Well, I got there at 1pm after a harrowing trip down in the
bus. Well it was not so harrowing as
usual because Shirley, a fellow quilter from my guild in Prescott, sat beside
me and we chatted the whole way to Phoenix.
The harrowing part is the craziness of traveling on I-17. The big rigs scare me as they careen down the
mountain side and they do not always stay in their assigned lanes etc.etc.etc.
When I got there I found the check in desk and the workers
were harried beyond belief. The tornado
that had ripped through Oklahoma on Monday and made matchsticks out of the houses
there, was now causing problems big time in the skies over the central part of
the USA. Many flights had been grounded
elsewhere and never made it to Phoenix to pick up people to take them elsewhere
and flights out of Phoenix had been grounded due to bad weather systems between
the West and the East of the country. My
plane never made it out of Texas to pick me up and take me to Nebraska and so
the workers had to find another plane headed for Nebraska so that I could get
there. As luck would have it, they found
the last seat on US Air – a direct flight even- from Phoenix to Omaha but it
left at 7pm instead of the 3pm that I was originally set to leave. So that meant that I would not arrive at 9pm
Nebraska time but rather at 11.30pm and Jacob picked me up and we drove to
Lincoln arriving around 1.15pm. In the
luggage claim area, two ladies were fighting and screaming at each other due to
the fact that one was perceived as
pushing herself ahead of the other to get out of the plane. As it was, most of the people on the plane
had been traveling most of the day, were re-routed from original flights to
this one, and worse yet, were hungry and very tired. Personally I was glad to be on the ground at
last. We did have a good and un-eventful
flight from Phoenix and best yet, it was a straight through flight and no plane
changing in Colorado. I am not a fan of
changing planes anywhere so that I can get to Nebraska.
In the morning the kids came in to get me up but I was
already awake. Sara and Jacob are now in
their new home and the area is very unfamiliar to me so I had to have written
directions to get the kids to school and to pick them up in the afternoon and
to go get Sara from work. Only got lost
a couple of times but have enough knowledge of Lincoln to be able to find the
correct roads to get everyone picked up and in their right places.
I have been here almost 2 weeks and it has been a
whirlwind. We have had some terrible
storms and some tornadic activity just south of us but aimed right at Lincoln
in its path of destruction. We dodged
the bullet Jacob bought a radio that
warns of tornado activity and it really makes a racket and will waken the dead,
as my mother would describe it.
Through My Heritage.com site ,I have been able to make some
headway with my Australian genealogy information. One man is connected with my Uncle George and
has Gatfield information. I hope to get
information from him to be able to send to Edgar and Christine because I do not
think they have their genealogy done or even have interest in it, but they need
to know where they are connected.
Sara has a couple of weeks yet before her baby
is born and tomorrow, Monday 3rd June, she has a doctor’s
appointment. I am anxious for this baby
to be here, but she is more interested in having the baby come – that is
Saturday, May 25, 2013
almost caught up with the blog
It is always interesting to see the swimwear that people have at the YMCA. The young ADONIS types with their knee length JAMS and ripped 6 packs are the lifeguards. Older men with fat paunchy tummies also wear JAMS but they really look funny. How does an Adonis become a fat paunchy old man? As Shakespeare said in Seven Ages of Man, "With full capon lined" meaning they ate too much. However, there was a older man parading around in his Speedo swimsuit - now that dates him! He was built like an Adonis and no paunch - amazing.
The Swifts at the YMCA have nests high in the eaves and it was restful to the eyes to watch them flying to and fro and it seemed like they returned to the nests en masse and then on some unseen cue, they flew away from the nests and it looked like a feathered waterfall as they left the nests to search for bugs to eat. There must have been plenty of bugs around that day.
I looked on my peach and nectarine trees and saw loads of evidence that we were to have a bumper crop but then a cold morning came and I looked again and all these miniscule fruit were on the ground. No fruit at all this year.
27th April was a special day for our Stake. They had contracted to paint the wrought iron at the Ken Linley Field. There is to be a BIG soccer festival there soon and they place really needed sprucing up. there was even a picture in the newspaper of the members of the church doing their best to paint the wrought iron.
On 29th April I went down to the dentist in Phoenix to have them make an assessment of whether I should get a bridge made or what. I was surprised when they told me that I could have three choices. A bridge at $1800 an implant at around $1200 or a partial (flipper) at $250. The dentist in Prescott only wanted to do the bridge and he initially wanted $2500 but at a subsequent visit he changed his price to around $2800.
I went to see Dr. Ham on Tuesday 30th April and had YAG surgery - laser surgery to remove the capsule wall that has gone cloudy. When I went back two weeks later they did a refraction test and he told me that I now have 20/25 sight in my left eye and 20/20 in my right eye with corrective lenses.
On May 1, I was asked to go and check on Jill Carney. I have not seen her for a while but was shocked to see how sick she was. She is now skin and bone and very weak. she asked me to go to the store to get her some soup so off I went and when I came back found her with an assortment of pills laid out on the bed and before I could discern what they were or how many she should be taking she had taken them and ended up only eating 2 tablespoons full of soup before she said she was going to vomit and then she passed out on the bed. I called the Relief Society President who had initially given me the assignment and they decided to come and assess what is happening and the end result was that she was taken to the hospital. I went to sse her in the hospital and she was very angry at me but I was not the one who got her admitted to the hospital.
At Family History center on 2 May two ladies came in who were researching Native American genealogy. They left their name and phone number for Mr. Kirby Trew who is doing Native American research.
Friday 3rd May I had my first organizational meeting with Marty Lensink for the Community Quilte initiative that we are doing for the Quilt Guild. Bill went to have a Dexa Scan and they told him that he has Osteo Porosis now instead of Osteo Pena which he was diagnosed with the last time he went for a scan.
David came up on the 2pm bus and we took him out to eat at the Chinese place - his favorite place to eat in Prescott.
Saturday Bill had to work all day but I took David to the Clark Funeral.
On Monday 6th I went back to Phoenix for the mouth impression for the flipper.
Tuesday 7th Bill worked in Sedona. I had an appointment with the retinal specialist and he told me that my sight is about as good as it is going to get. At 4pm we went to a baby shower on Willow Creek Road. There was no parking anywhere and the drive was impossible to access anyway.
On Friday 10th I had the opportunity to go to the Orphans court for Adoption Day. The quilts from the Community Quilts were all over the chairs and railings and there were balloons everywhere. It was quite festive all round and many children were adopted. It made me feel particularly good.
Saturday 11th May we drove down to the temple for stake temple day. We got back in time go to the Moore wedding reception. It was very nicely decorated and was outside on the lawn at church. Wise move because the little children spilled drinks etc. and there was no cleanup from that. I bet the birds had a field day eating cake crumbs etc. Today on the town square was the opening day of the craft season for Prescott. I heard later that the Spinners and Weavers booth only sold two items in the two days of the show. It was also the Highland games - so there were many things to choose from - but we chose to attend the temple.
On Monday 13 I went with Bobbie to explore some venues downtown. We first went to the Sharlot Hall museum and saw my quilt which is still on exhibit there. Found out that it, along with all the other quilts in the display will be going over to be on display in Sedona and then on to other venues. Amazing! The quilt has been displayed most effectively. We wandered through many of the little boutiques etc. that we normally would not even visit.
I went down to Phoenix for the fitting of the flipper and we ate out in Prescott when we got back home.
On Tuesday 14th May Bill worked in Chino Valley Store and in the evening Juli Dalton came to our home and helped us prepare for our assignment in the Family History calling we now have. My job will be to do presentations in Primary and Bill will be given the responsibility to keep track of all the temple work that is being done by members of the ward. Either way, we have heavy responsibilities in this area.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I spent time fixing the quilt hanging for Sara and Jacob. It consists of the little blocks signed by the people who attended their wedding reception 12 years ago. My goal is to show it at Guild on Monday and take it with me on Tuesday to Nebraska.
At my Dr. Ham appointment he told me that I have 20/25 vision in my left eye and 20/20 vision in my right eye with new glasses. I will be getting them after I leave Nebraska.
The Swifts at the YMCA have nests high in the eaves and it was restful to the eyes to watch them flying to and fro and it seemed like they returned to the nests en masse and then on some unseen cue, they flew away from the nests and it looked like a feathered waterfall as they left the nests to search for bugs to eat. There must have been plenty of bugs around that day.
I looked on my peach and nectarine trees and saw loads of evidence that we were to have a bumper crop but then a cold morning came and I looked again and all these miniscule fruit were on the ground. No fruit at all this year.
27th April was a special day for our Stake. They had contracted to paint the wrought iron at the Ken Linley Field. There is to be a BIG soccer festival there soon and they place really needed sprucing up. there was even a picture in the newspaper of the members of the church doing their best to paint the wrought iron.
On 29th April I went down to the dentist in Phoenix to have them make an assessment of whether I should get a bridge made or what. I was surprised when they told me that I could have three choices. A bridge at $1800 an implant at around $1200 or a partial (flipper) at $250. The dentist in Prescott only wanted to do the bridge and he initially wanted $2500 but at a subsequent visit he changed his price to around $2800.
I went to see Dr. Ham on Tuesday 30th April and had YAG surgery - laser surgery to remove the capsule wall that has gone cloudy. When I went back two weeks later they did a refraction test and he told me that I now have 20/25 sight in my left eye and 20/20 in my right eye with corrective lenses.
On May 1, I was asked to go and check on Jill Carney. I have not seen her for a while but was shocked to see how sick she was. She is now skin and bone and very weak. she asked me to go to the store to get her some soup so off I went and when I came back found her with an assortment of pills laid out on the bed and before I could discern what they were or how many she should be taking she had taken them and ended up only eating 2 tablespoons full of soup before she said she was going to vomit and then she passed out on the bed. I called the Relief Society President who had initially given me the assignment and they decided to come and assess what is happening and the end result was that she was taken to the hospital. I went to sse her in the hospital and she was very angry at me but I was not the one who got her admitted to the hospital.
At Family History center on 2 May two ladies came in who were researching Native American genealogy. They left their name and phone number for Mr. Kirby Trew who is doing Native American research.
Friday 3rd May I had my first organizational meeting with Marty Lensink for the Community Quilte initiative that we are doing for the Quilt Guild. Bill went to have a Dexa Scan and they told him that he has Osteo Porosis now instead of Osteo Pena which he was diagnosed with the last time he went for a scan.
David came up on the 2pm bus and we took him out to eat at the Chinese place - his favorite place to eat in Prescott.
Saturday Bill had to work all day but I took David to the Clark Funeral.
On Monday 6th I went back to Phoenix for the mouth impression for the flipper.
Tuesday 7th Bill worked in Sedona. I had an appointment with the retinal specialist and he told me that my sight is about as good as it is going to get. At 4pm we went to a baby shower on Willow Creek Road. There was no parking anywhere and the drive was impossible to access anyway.
On Friday 10th I had the opportunity to go to the Orphans court for Adoption Day. The quilts from the Community Quilts were all over the chairs and railings and there were balloons everywhere. It was quite festive all round and many children were adopted. It made me feel particularly good.
Saturday 11th May we drove down to the temple for stake temple day. We got back in time go to the Moore wedding reception. It was very nicely decorated and was outside on the lawn at church. Wise move because the little children spilled drinks etc. and there was no cleanup from that. I bet the birds had a field day eating cake crumbs etc. Today on the town square was the opening day of the craft season for Prescott. I heard later that the Spinners and Weavers booth only sold two items in the two days of the show. It was also the Highland games - so there were many things to choose from - but we chose to attend the temple.
On Monday 13 I went with Bobbie to explore some venues downtown. We first went to the Sharlot Hall museum and saw my quilt which is still on exhibit there. Found out that it, along with all the other quilts in the display will be going over to be on display in Sedona and then on to other venues. Amazing! The quilt has been displayed most effectively. We wandered through many of the little boutiques etc. that we normally would not even visit.
I went down to Phoenix for the fitting of the flipper and we ate out in Prescott when we got back home.
On Tuesday 14th May Bill worked in Chino Valley Store and in the evening Juli Dalton came to our home and helped us prepare for our assignment in the Family History calling we now have. My job will be to do presentations in Primary and Bill will be given the responsibility to keep track of all the temple work that is being done by members of the ward. Either way, we have heavy responsibilities in this area.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I spent time fixing the quilt hanging for Sara and Jacob. It consists of the little blocks signed by the people who attended their wedding reception 12 years ago. My goal is to show it at Guild on Monday and take it with me on Tuesday to Nebraska.
At my Dr. Ham appointment he told me that I have 20/25 vision in my left eye and 20/20 vision in my right eye with new glasses. I will be getting them after I leave Nebraska.
Friday, May 10, 2013
21 April to April 26
I am trying to get all the loose ends tied up before I leave for Nebraska. I have the Johnny Depp version of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate factory on the Video. I really rather the version with Gene Wilder.
On the 21 April we had the Primary teachers inservice meeting. I do not know what they put in the bean dish, but it put my lights out and I could not stay awake. It was pretty boring and that contributed to my sleepiness I suppose.
We had community quilts at Las Fuentes on Monday. I went from start to the end because I have to learn how it works since I am in charge of this activity next year. At community quilts we make quilts from the fabric that has been donated to the guild from private fabric stash collections that people are no longer interested in keeping because they have moved on, and also, there are fabrics from quilters estates after they pass away. We are loaded with fabrics. It represents thousands of dollars spent on fabric but we must keep in mind that shopping for fabric is at times a sporting event and it can be a quest with no end, or it can be very comforting to just walk through the Quilt fabric shop touching each bolt and enjoying the color and textures there. It was quite an experience to work with the ladies at the community quilts - quilts that are given to hospice, women's shelters and court adoptions etc.
On Tuesday 23 April I had my 6month checkup with the skin specialist. He loves to shoot Nitrogen onto people to burn off skin lesions - and I am convinced that he finds lesions when there are none to be found - he has to make some show so that he can charge Medicare a packet.
At 11am I met Lorraine, a lady from Richfield, Utah, who is some distant relative that I met on My Heritage.com. She is form Australia and we had a grand old chat at Chipotle, over lunch. I was very happy to meet her and it was like we had known each other for years.
On Wednesday 24th April I went to lunch at the Resort with Wendy Wolf and her friend Portia. I met these two ladies some years ago at the YMCA - we took Tai Chi together. She re-introduced herself to me at the Quilt Show at Sharlot Hall Museum and invited me to have lunch - eventually we were able to settle on a date. It turned out to be a luncheon of the ladies from Yavapai Hills development. ON the table was a folder from Wells FArgo Bank and we were afraid that we would be given a big push to talk to the presenter about financial investments. That did not happen, Instead he had some sort of name in the hat game and t hey handed out prizes. The last name they pulled out was mine and I won the extra meal that had been paid for by the promoter, but the restaurant could not take it back, or sell it to someone else, and it was extra because someone did not come. I had a wonderful time visiting with Wendy and Portia. At the end of the meal a lady of Japanese descent stopped by to talk and we began in Japanese and it was really fun.
We got some sad news this afternoon. Our friend Elllis Clark died suddently.
Thursday evening we had a Relief Society meeting where they planned to play pickle ball over at Andrea's house. Well we started with the hors duevers (spelling?) and by the time they had been demolished they were supposed to go outside to play pickle ball but it was very dark, so we played some other games that they had. It was a good time for the ladies to just kick back and relax.
On the 21 April we had the Primary teachers inservice meeting. I do not know what they put in the bean dish, but it put my lights out and I could not stay awake. It was pretty boring and that contributed to my sleepiness I suppose.
We had community quilts at Las Fuentes on Monday. I went from start to the end because I have to learn how it works since I am in charge of this activity next year. At community quilts we make quilts from the fabric that has been donated to the guild from private fabric stash collections that people are no longer interested in keeping because they have moved on, and also, there are fabrics from quilters estates after they pass away. We are loaded with fabrics. It represents thousands of dollars spent on fabric but we must keep in mind that shopping for fabric is at times a sporting event and it can be a quest with no end, or it can be very comforting to just walk through the Quilt fabric shop touching each bolt and enjoying the color and textures there. It was quite an experience to work with the ladies at the community quilts - quilts that are given to hospice, women's shelters and court adoptions etc.
On Tuesday 23 April I had my 6month checkup with the skin specialist. He loves to shoot Nitrogen onto people to burn off skin lesions - and I am convinced that he finds lesions when there are none to be found - he has to make some show so that he can charge Medicare a packet.
At 11am I met Lorraine, a lady from Richfield, Utah, who is some distant relative that I met on My Heritage.com. She is form Australia and we had a grand old chat at Chipotle, over lunch. I was very happy to meet her and it was like we had known each other for years.
On Wednesday 24th April I went to lunch at the Resort with Wendy Wolf and her friend Portia. I met these two ladies some years ago at the YMCA - we took Tai Chi together. She re-introduced herself to me at the Quilt Show at Sharlot Hall Museum and invited me to have lunch - eventually we were able to settle on a date. It turned out to be a luncheon of the ladies from Yavapai Hills development. ON the table was a folder from Wells FArgo Bank and we were afraid that we would be given a big push to talk to the presenter about financial investments. That did not happen, Instead he had some sort of name in the hat game and t hey handed out prizes. The last name they pulled out was mine and I won the extra meal that had been paid for by the promoter, but the restaurant could not take it back, or sell it to someone else, and it was extra because someone did not come. I had a wonderful time visiting with Wendy and Portia. At the end of the meal a lady of Japanese descent stopped by to talk and we began in Japanese and it was really fun.
We got some sad news this afternoon. Our friend Elllis Clark died suddently.
Thursday evening we had a Relief Society meeting where they planned to play pickle ball over at Andrea's house. Well we started with the hors duevers (spelling?) and by the time they had been demolished they were supposed to go outside to play pickle ball but it was very dark, so we played some other games that they had. It was a good time for the ladies to just kick back and relax.
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