Still recovering

Willie Nelson he is not but since this country singer is one of Dale's favorites I have decided to use his image as an icon for this weeks experiences. As many of you know, Dale has been through a lot this last year and a lot of ups and downs. As I write this I recall many proud moments, not the least of which is the progress he has made in speech therapy. While his short term memory often remains illusive, the long term is often right o the money. Recently, I cleaned out the little pond we have in the back garden as it had stopped running and we both enjoy the sound of the water running through the old water pump and splashing below. After cleaning it still would not work so off I went to the hardware store to get a new one. Installed, it did nothing. However, Dale sent me to the big workbench in the garage to reset the outlet and shazam, the pump is working again. Because he has lost a lot I love it that he can feel like he is contributing in a real way.

He has gone from a feeding tube to a peg in his abdomen, from there to eating almost anything. I gave him an Ipad to use for memory issues. I am not sure he will admit it but he does really like using it to access the news, check his calendar for appointments everyday. In addition, it seems he enjoys a game of Angry Birds and a little solitaire a slot machine now and then.

Over the months since he finally came home we have had a pretty quiet household. Well, I should qualify that by saying he was quiet and I found myself turning into a little bit of a chatterbox perhaps trying to fill the void of silence. of course there was the television. tell me why do men have to watch five minutes of a program and move on to something else and later perhaps back to the first program, move on to... well you know what I mean.

In any case Dale's voice has been there but really soft these last months. A couple of days ago he had a surgical procedure that involved an injection into his vocal cords to hep them close when speaking and really important when swallowing. So the house remains especially quiet for this next week as he is not supposed to speak at all! Then two weeks of speaking softly. This is a temporary fix but hopefully with continuing speech therapy the cords will regain some of their strength and he will have that voice back again.

I know I have not posted for awhile, but I am busier than I ever expected to be. I am still working on Aunty Green and hope to share a little more progress in the next week or so. Then heading for Baltimore on the Prairie. Take care.

So how are you doing this summer?

Kind of cute don't you think? Well, for me not so much. While things were better than usual ( I have a service ) the Japanese beetles visited my yard yet again. Six weeks of picking these things off my roses and and killing them on an individual basis has not put me in a good place. You can probably imagine my state of mind when I began seeing little piles of soil and then trails of soil on the grass. I looked on the Internet and found some really strange and fun ideas for getting rid of these creatures. The strangest solution involves sitting very close to a mound or tunnel, put your ear to the ground and when you hear activity use a spade to pound very hard on the ground. Kills em every time, not!! Used cat litter has a lot of fans. How about moth balls? You can walk around with a pitch fork and stab through the tunnels until you get lucky and stab the creature. You can also buy a package of poison worms and hope you place them in a really good place.

My yard has become a sort of mine field. Don't want the children playing back there because sometimes these soil piles are hidden by the grass. Almost turned an ankle last week myself. So, I hope you can imagine that when I saw a sign last week in my neighborhood ( Got Moles? ) that I instantly wrote down the phone number. I'm getting old. I wouldn't have remembered. Mr Rosiere came right away, set several traps and promised to come back. I ran my errands and could not resist going into the back yard to have a look. I stood there for just a few minutes when the trap nearest me snapped shut and then directly to my right another also snapped shut! Now is there a mole in either of the traps? I am not going to look. I was told that I probably only have one or two moles and wouldn't that be cool to be done with these guys? I should be so lucky! Hope to get back to posting about quilts soon,

Did you know

I very rarely take pictures of food, let alone blog about it and this is the second time in a week! However, this time I am going to offer a tip. I hope some of you will be surprised and pleased. However I know I could be putting myself out there and turn out to be the only one who did not know this great idea. So here goes. Even though we check in with one another, it very often turns out to be related to my husbands therapy, quick texts and the like. So because I was lonely for my family I invited them to dinner. Kept it simple with a menu including lasagna, salad and garlic bread. Brownies for dessert. However the whole time I was mentally whining about the brownies. You know what I mean, what's not to like about chocolate? The only thing I can think of is how difficult it is to make a pretty dessert with brownies because getting a clean cut is next to impossible. Or so I thought. The internet is a wonderful thing. it was there I found all kinds of advice about this. At the end of the day the star is that small white, plastic knife. Who knew? Just a tiny bit of chocolate on the knife and very little crumbs hanging around. Either this is a really good thing or I am easily entertained. Perhaps a little of both

Aunty Green, a little progress.

Just checking in with you. I know you think I will never finish but I really like this quilt and will keep at it until done. Come back for another installment in a few weeks. I think I will be moving right along. I again hope you will share some of your work with me.

My thanks to you all

Almost four months into outpatient therapy, frustration and more than a few tears it was time to say thank you. Thank you dear friends for being so kind and writing so many notes of encouragement. In addition my thanks as well to everyone who works so hard to help Dale get well. So I baked cookies and cupcakes. seems like food is universal among those who spend their days caring for others. For the most part we have been blessed with people who really care about those who come through their doors. Not to say that there are not still hard times. This whole thing has been filled with ups and downs, not the least of which came about a month ago. I was cruising along in my life. Times have been hard and stressful but I was managing. Then one day the OT told me that she wanted me to do a series of therapies at home everyday! She said she could only imagine how hard things were and how difficult it would be to add more. Hmmmm it was true. She could only imagine. I shed a lot of tears the next few weeks. I finally decided to be candid and had a conversation with the OT where I told her my concerns about this, I have no training and felt inadequate . I reminded her she was the one with the education. She then told me that she went to school to be able to train people like me to give therapy to their loved ones. I did get in line and now do several therapy's a day. It is only the last week that I decided this was not going away and shed my last tears for now. Well, maybe I do occasionally drop a tear or two. It seems I can manage almost anything as I do have help from family and friends.
The problem that remains is something I can do nothing to change. Over the years my role as the mother of a developmentally disabled child/adult has changed from being a mother to being a care giver. Now I find the same thing has happened in my marriage. I am no longer exactly a mother or a wife. Of all the changes over the last year, this is the most painful. I so miss being a mom and now being a wife. I believe this will change back to some degree but for now, it is what it is. In the meantime, I continue to be grateful for those who care so this week I made cookies. Wish I could do the same for all of you, but in the meantime love to you and yours. Hold them close.because you never know.

When you realize you are now a dinosaur

Since I am not far enough along with Aunty Green and really do not have any other quilts to share right now I have decided to share a secret I had hoped never to admit to anyone. Quite some time ago I realized that I had become a "Dinosaur" "Traditional Quiltasaurus, species Tyranappliquerex, sub species Handquiltaraptor. I am not sure when this became my reality but I think I know how it began.

Perhaps the seeds were planted in the late seventies and early eighties, before I became a quilter but began to to attend quilt shows in order to find needlework patterns and books to add to my "stash" of of embroidery items.

Quilt making was becoming popular again when many people made patriotic quilts to celebrate America's birthday. I attended my first quilt show and knew instantly that I would moving beyond the small sweet quilts I made for my babies. Beyond the simple patchwork for my adolescent daughter in green, yellow and and orange gingham which she treasures today almost thirty years later. Beyond the "Make This quilt In a Weekend" pattern for a Log Cabin design published in a popular women's magazine. before rotary cutters this project took more that a weekend to cut out! Even using a quilt as you go method it was months before this quilt warmed the dreams of my active little boy.

As I walked that show in Santa Rosa California, I was drawn closer to the position I am in today, teacher, lecturer, hand appliquer, hand quilter.

Now please understand that a non-traditional quilt was a purple Ohio star. So , imagine my utter shock when I entered a large room, and encountered a group of animated women gathered in front of an unusual quilt hung high above their heads. It had to be a quilt, because it was a quilt show. But nothing in my experience prepared me for what I saw. On what I assumed to be a fabric foundation there were attached garter belts, girdles and bras of every conceivable color size and style! I was stunned! Listening to the conversation around me I heard disbelief to match my own and then two words, "Art Quilt!" In addition, "This Will Never Fly!", " Art Quilts are not going to work.

Well, they were wrong! Artists began looking at fabric and quilting as a way to express their passion and Art quilts were here to stay.

When I walk around quilt shows today I find myself counting the traditional entries. Turn the corner and "be still my heart" a hand applique quilt so beautiful it takes my breathe away and across the way another. No wait, on closer inspection I find it to be machine done. A traditional red and green design, machine appliqued and quilted Also takes my breathe away. It's that good! So, I am not threatened by the newer species on the block. I am always attracted to great work and there is a lot of that around.

Still a dinosaur, not very smart with technology but a whiz with a needle. Have you got a story? Come on share it with me and anyone else who happens to come by and read what we write about the passion we share.

Auntie Green quilt, Still a work in progress

I just know that everyone of the other quilters involved in this project are way ahead. Perhaps even finished with the applique, and maybe the quilting is also finished! Okay. a little over the top I suppose. True, I do not have a lot of quilting time these days but I know the solution is to stay the course. many years ago I worked for a company named Sunset Designs. I was hired to stitch four color work, simply said the pieces I stitched were to photographed for pattern covers. best work required. Later I was moved to new product development where I worked with artists and designers. In this case perfection was not required, but good interpretation was required.
I met a lovely woman in that department and once when I asked her how she accomplished so much. Now is when I should tell you that she had only one arm. She told us she threaded at least one needle every day and stitched at least that much. And so that is what I will try to do with this quilt.



I am a fairly conservative quilter when it comes to fabric choices but I decided to move out of the box for this quilt. The original quilt artist used prints for virtually every motif. I like to use prints that read like a print but are not. However, I decided to honor the original artist and do the same. My choices may be a little more whimsical what with polka dot leaves, etc, but I am beginning like enjoy this step out of my very controlled box.

The little circles in the top photo are simply cut from fabric and appliqued in place. So far the stems are made from bias tubes though I quite like doing needle turn. I will continue to work and share and hope I hear from you.