My Sweet Hubby and Something New to Cure the Blues

Hello my dear friends all over the world! 

So many of you have sent such sweet comments to me, and I am so very thankful for each and every one of them.  I am believing for the biggest miracle EVER, and that is that someday I will actually get a nice comment from one of my siblings.  But until that miracle happens, I am so touched and blessed by all the nice comments that come from you.

The only consolation in my situation is that I am certainly not alone.  No matter WHO I talk to, I hear the same stories over and over.  One out of several siblings takes on the duty of caring for the aged parent, and the other siblings do nothing but complain and bad mouth the caretaker.  I have only one daughter, so in my case, it will be her or nobody. 

I cannot wait to get back to the Assisted Living Home my Mom is in to see her.  Jerry has been there twice since I've been up here.  First, her TV went out on Friday and nobody there could fix it.  The Directv repairman could not come until Easter Sunday -- of all times -- and I knew Mom wouldn't let the guy into her room  -- especially, if he looked like the one that came to hook it up!  I knew Jerry could fix it, and he did.  He went out Friday after working all day.  He is really good to her.

It was so funny.  I called Mom Friday when I heard her TV wasn't working.  At first, she told me she hadn't been able to watch it for TWO DAYS.  A little bit later, she said she hadn't been able to watch it for THREE DAYS.  A few minutes later, she said she hadn't been able to watch it for FIVE DAYS! 

Then I had to call Jerry yesterday -- Easter -- to go back out to Mom's to fix a broken lamp.  It was a tall lamp that has a little round table going around it.

Dorine found it leaned up against a wall because it wouldn't stand up on its own.  We have NO IDEA what happened to it.

Anyway, Jerry was an angel, and he went out late last night and worked a long time fixing her lamp.

And, YES, I wanted to go home so badly but Jerry is coming up here for a doctor appointment this week, and he wants me here when he arrives.

Please God, do not let anything break while we are both gone!

So today came, and I have been very lonely the last few days.  Didn't see a single person yesterday even though my family is here.  It just didn't feel right since it was Easter.  Haven't had Luke since last week.  I texted Margaret to see if she was home.  She was and she said, "Let's get together!"

We did our favorite thing.  First a steak and a baked potato, and then we went to Von Maur to look at new purses.

Some of you may recall the year I bought the pretty purple purse when I was with Margaret, and she bought a blue one.  Margaret has to get the brakes fixed on her car so she couldn't buy a new purse today, but she had fun helping me find one.

This is it!  Isn't it pretty?  The silver heart, the tassel and the color are what caught my eye.  PLUS it has FOUR pockets on the outside.

I knew immediately it was the one I wanted.

When I got home, I tried it on my shoulder and took a picture for Phylly to see.  She is a major Purse-a-holic!  She has gorgeous purses in all sizes, shapes and colors.  I have a lot, but not compared to Phylly.

Then Margaret said that I should tell Jerry how much money I SAVED because I didn't have to BUY a new blouse.  I could just make one.  So I went through my stash, and look what I found to make a new blouse out of.

I snapped this pic and then immediately cut it out.

Won't keep you.  Time to get my jammies on.  Jerry comes tomorrow!  I haven't seen him for about 10 days.  I miss him SO MUCH!  He had a good vacation too though, and it has been super refreshing for both of us.  I really miss Mom though.

Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Hugs, Joy

 

Back At Last and Where I've Been

Hey Everyone!

It is Wednesday evening here in Edmond, OK and I am enjoying the second week of my Vacation From Life.

It is a loooooooooooooooooong story as to what I have been up to, so if you have 30 minutes, you can listen to it here:

My mother is doing great and is happy.  I miss her very much, and I am supposed to get to talk to her tonight on Dorine's phone.  I don't know if Mom will be able to carry on a conversation -- or even want to try -- but I can, at least, hear her voice, and she can hear mine.

Other than that, I am making appointments galore and keeping Sweet Baby Luke as often as his parents will allow.  He is SO adorable!  I keep forgetting to ask his parents if I can post pics of him, so I won't do that until I do.

Jerry is at our other house working on very difficult wheelchair assignments.

One is for an over 600 pound person.  (OMG!  Have you ever watched that show about 600 pound people?  It is the saddest thing.  I just want to cry every time I watch it.)  Jerry always takes the customers other companies turn down.  He works more hours than he will ever get paid for either locating or making special attachments.  He is really good at what he does!

The other patient is a woman who lives too far away -- but he took her anyway -- and she cannot make up her mind what she wants.  He keeps making changes for her and driving to her house and back just to show her something he has done, only to have to figure out how to make some other change.  I don't know HOW he stands it!

SOOOOOO, he isn't able to have a vacation WITH ME, is the point of all of that.  He gets to go fishing on the weekends, and that keeps him going.  He is catching gigantic fish now, and he really loves that he finally figured out how to do that.  It takes a LOT MORE than a lake, a nice boat and lots of lures.

Won't keep you.  I need to clean up this vacation spot!  Unfortunately, it did not come with a housekeeper.

Hugs, Joy

Hello on Wednesday Night

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry I don't have a new video for you.  I actually made one for you two days ago, but I didn't have time to unscramble it.  Mom has been more needful of my time lately, and I get really worn out some days.

She wakes us up very abruptly at night quite often, and Jerry and I both have trouble going back to sleep.  I always jerk my head up because I'm shocked with the bright light and Mom demanding I get up and fix her shake, and I have a pain in my neck all the time.  Ugh!

I get so upset with her until I've caught up on my sleep and my compassion cup is full again.

Jerry is gone a lot too, and that means I'm alone with her.  When he is here, he helps with all the chores and helps me deal with her when she gets difficult.  Thank God I have a wonderful husband who appreciates me taking care of my Mom, and he is always willing to help -- IF he isn't at work or fishing -- of course.

Then there is our store which requires more of my time lately.  We have had an ad in the paper for a sales clerk for three weeks.  Today, the 2nd applicant came in.  She was only 19 years old.  She seemed like a little girl to me.  I told her if she came to work for us, she would have lots of Mothers -- more like Grandmothers!  She was very quiet and shy.  I'm not sure if she could handle all the responsibility, but I think she would be very sweet and easy to like.  If they are teachable, it is nice to have a young one you can train.  They don't complain that something was done differently somewhere else.

SOOOOOOOOOO, all of that to say, I haven't had much time lately for blogging and vlogging.

Right now, I must get up off this comfy bed to go outside to find our oldest, fattest cat, Bootsy.  He decided he wasn't coming in at the usual time tonight, and Jerry isn't here to walk all over the place following him until he finally stops so Jerry can pick him up.  If he doesn't come when I call him, it is just too bad!  He can stay out all night in the cold!  I will go call him one more time though.

Be back soon my friends. 

Hugs, Joy

My Final Choice for the Crumbs and Sad Doggie Update

Hi everyone!

I have actually sewn two whole rows together of my final choice of patterns for my crumb quilt. 

Here is a picture of the quilt squares just stuck up on my flannel wall.

I really like it!  I was surprised that I lost about five inches across when I sewed the pieces together.

I'll show it to you again when I get it all sewn together with the borders. 

That will give me THREE quilts that need binding.  I hope I get a binding urge pretty soon.

Thanks for all your comments on the turquoise/brown bindings.  I think I may do a turquoise flange and brown binding.  That should be real pretty on the bed.

And about the doggies:  Sandy and Sasha

Remember the tossed-out puppies that came into our garage?

I brought home the 20 pound bag of puppy food and a large bag of treats.  We fed the puppies twice as you can see in the picture above, and we left the treats for them.  They never would come near us.

Well, the next two days it rained over two inches.  I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but both puppies have not been seen since I snapped the picture.  We have looked and looked and called and called.

Jerry goes out several times a day to look in their hiding place.

We pray that someone else has taken them in, but....  We live in the dangerous woods and the coyotes have been active.  There are bob cats and owls and snakes and heaven-only-knows what else.  I sure hope they are okay somewhere.  We have plenty of food if they show up again.

Gotta get.  Time to check on Mom, and Jerry will be home from fishing soon.

Hugs, Joy

Help Needed for Crumbs!, Puppy Update, Big Catch and Newest Pattern from Saf-T-Pockets

I am so excited to have half-square triangles of my crumb 10" squares!  I believe the Layer Cake was called "In The Navy" from MSQC.

NOW, I don't know the best way to arrange them.  They are basically only TWO colors, but you can do so many arrangements with them.

Tell me what you think, and what arrangement you like.  Love to see any other patterns you know about.

Here is Arrangement #1: (I didn't have many pieces yet.)

Following is Arrangement #2: (I think this is my favorite because of the stars it makes.)

Following is Arrangement #3: (I like this one but it doesn't have any stars.)

Some of you asked me to keep you posted on the puppies who were thrown out onto our land by some mean person.  We feel they must have been VERY mean because these puppies are terrified of people.  We are trying very hard to get them to come to us.

I put food out for them, and when we LEAVE, they rush to the food and gobble down every bit of it.  We put food into this bowl twice tonight.

I think they have been mothered by a deer because they act like deer.  Very timid and watchful and jumpy.  They won't be still long enough for me to snap a good picture.

My husband found where they have been living.  They crawl under that long piece of metal on top of the leaves.  This area is behind Jerry's barn, so we never saw them until they came up to the house looking for food.

And below is one of our three cats.  His name is boots -- for obvious reasons -- and he is our oldest and fattest cat.

He was hilarious watching us try to get the puppies to come to us.  He could see everything from his high perch there.  He and Barney (our second oldest cat) have not been happy ever since we brought Button home when he was a kitten.  He was a tossed out baby also, but he ran into our building in town to hide.  He was so tiny and so skinny.

Boots and Barney ignore Button and treat him like some kind of space alien; and now they see these puppies, and I think they are at their wit's end.  LOL! 

And THEN there is my husband!

A few nights ago when I first saw the puppies, I told him how cute they were and told him we had to take care of them.  He said, "NO WAY!!!!"  "LISTEN TO ME, JOY!"  "WE HAVE YOUR MOM -- OUR 3 CATS -- AND 3 STRAY CATS!"  "WE JUST CANNOT TAKE THESE DOGS IN!!!!"

Now that I'm old and I have lived with Jerry for 43 years, I know that he ALWAYS says "NO!" first.  Later, he always says "Yes".  So, I just waited. 

This morning when I went into the kitchen to make my breakfast, Jerry was trying to come up with a name for the dogs who still had not come near us.  Of course, I knew his heart was softening, but I didn't let on.  He said, "I think I'll name the black dog "Bart".  (A "B" name like the 3 cats.)

I told him the dogs were girls and he could not name one "Bart".  He agreed.

I suggested "Betty".  He said he didn't like that at all. 

I told him I wanted to name the light colored one "Sandy", but he said that didn't start with a "B".

So then I left and went to work.  I wasn't at work very long when Terry called and we decided to take advantage of the one sunshiny day this week and go do our grocery shopping.  While I was at Sam's buying groceries, I got a phone call from Jerry.

GUESS what he wanted????????????????????

He asked me to buy dog food and treats for the puppies.  He really is a big softy when it comes to puppies and kittens.

I don't know what will actually happen, but I will keep you posted.

We have named them Sandy and Sasha.  IF they ever come to us, we will take them to a Vet and later get them spayed.  We don't need any more unwanted puppies.  I told Jerry that our names didn't start with "B", so surely we could name these dogs something else.  He agreed.

And, HEY!

You gotta see what Jerry caught yesterday when he went fishing with a new friend who happens to be a Guide.  I was so happy for Jerry to get to go in someone else's boat and just enjoy fishing.  He put the fish back in the lake.

And one last thing!

My latest new pattern.  I hope to make it up real soon.  I will let you know all about it -- of course.

Here is my latest VLOG if you haven't seen it, and if you care to:

Be back soon -- I hope.

Hugs, Joy

Animal Whimsy Quilt, Thanks for Mom's Mail and Happy Valentine's Day

This is the third quilt I've made for Luke and he is not three months old yet.

The boy is going to have to have a yard sale when he is a teenager to get rid of all the quilts his great granny made him!

It is a darling pattern called Animal Whimsy.  Here is a pic of it.

I quilted it simply with some animal sounds and some animal names.  Wish I had thought of it sooner so I could have planned it out better.  I got all confused when I couldn't figure out what sound a rabbit makes, and I wasn't sure what horses say either.  I thought it was "neigh" but that looked funny, and "nay" looked like "hay".

I should have made the rooster because I could have put "cock-a-doodle-doo", but what does the hen say?  Maybe "cluck-cluck" -- or isn't that the duck.  No, the duck says "quack". 

Or the pig.  I could have put "oink".

Or the donkey.  I could have put "hee haw".

Or the sheep.  I could have put "baa baa".

Does anyone know what a goat says?

Anyway, Luke isn't going to care, and I bet in a few years he will know what sound ALL those animals make, and he can teach it to his Great Granny Joy.  

But for now, here is the quilt I made for his portable crib.  It matches absolutely NOTHING in the room it is in, but I don't care.  I hope he drags it all over the place and wears it out.

Thank you all for your nice comments when you saw this quilt on my VLOG here:

I know other Bloggers and Vloggers feel the same way, because they say they do, about how much your kind comments brighten our days.  

And thank you again so very much for those of you who send my Mom mail.  She is always so excited that someone sent her something -- anything -- because it makes her feel remembered and cared about.  She is to the point she can't understand what is written or why the card came, but she is always happy that something came to her in the mail, and we always make sure she reads the cards, or we read them to her.

My new baby Luke will arrive here on Friday.  He already thinks his Great Grandma's face is a pink rectangle with a hole at the top.  His Daddy just got used to it, and he and his siblings always posed and smiled and said, "I love my Grandma!" on command.  (Instead of "cheese".)  They were the light of my life when they were growing up.

Jerry and I did Valentine's today.

We had to go to Best Buy to buy a new monitor for one of our employees.  While there, I wandered around a little and something caught my eye.  Fortunately, I could use Valentine's Day for an excuse, and Jerry was his usual generous, sweet self, and told me I could have it. 

I took a pic for you:

It is a lap desk that has a mouse pad and a place for my phone.  I had to get a wireless mouse to go with it, of course.  I am really enjoying it right now as Jerry lays beside me watching the Thunder play.

After that, we went to Red Lobster where I had a $32 lobster dinner.  I told Jerry it was too expensive, and he said, "Get what you want!"  So I did.  Jerry had a $30 dinner with crab legs.  So very good!  Then we bought groceries until we were both worn out.  It is always so good to be back home.

Be back soon my friends.  God bless you and your valentine.

Hugs, Joy

Sunday Night and Almost Finished Quilt

Hi everyone!

We are back in our Kingston home after a week at our Edmond home.  It is SO GOOD to be back home.  This is our REAL home.  The other home is just because we have a business in Edmond and we got sick of staying in a hotel when we were there.

Only thing is, I really miss my sweet great grandson, Luke.

I have something to show you!

I spent most of yesterday and today on this, and it still needs a binding, BUT I want to show it to you anyway.

It is loosely hanging from the bar, so it isn't flat.  You can see how nice it turned out though. 

This quilt design is called Lucy's E2E (Edge to Edge) from My Creative Stitches.  I paid $5 for it!  WELL worth it.  I really like it.

It is a Queen size quilt.  It was a kit I purchased from Craftsy called Spring 2017 Quilt-Along Flower Basket Kit.  I believe they are all sold out of it now.

As is true with most quilts, it is WAY PRETTIER in person. 

I've got to square it up and put the binding on it.  Give me a few days.

Jerry is watching the Super Bowl (yuk).  I'd rather be quilting if I wasn't exhausted from finishing the baskets.  Gotta work at our store tomorrow, but I'll try to get back soon for a new video.

Have you seen this one:

I have made SIX of those now.  They are really wonderful.  Gave one to Phylly.  Made a tutorial for you, but it is such a mess, I couldn't get it edited to make sense.  Too much time in between clips.  Blame it on Luke.  (-: 

Besides, you can go to Youtube and watch Rhonda make it HERE

Be back soon.

Hugs, Joy