Dogs and Health

I've moved to a tunnel, one that seems so far underground, sounds are so dim here, reflexes have become dulled, and sleep is disturbed continuously with bizarre dreams.  I'm reaching, and searching in every corner for a way back to brightness and full alertness. When told I was in heart and kidney failure a week ago Monday, and would have to take a new medication, one that requires weeks (it better be only weeks) for adjustment, I had no idea it would require this move to the tunnel. At least we know the culprit that has weakened my heart and kidneys, albeit temporarily, that caused this state of affairs.  Ultimately, I've only myself to blame, but pain from a knee needing replacement, and a lot of arthritis in my hands, feet, and hips, lead me to take one ibuprofen a day for many years. Rarely did I take more than one 200mg tablet, but overtime, it caused this toxic condition and now I am banished to the tunnel, with no pain reliever. Eight days in to the new medication, I am promised that my body should be adjusted within another week, at which point, I need to start another drug. UGH. I am so anti-this stuff. Ibuprofen has also caused me to have many ulcers in my stomach. Those are healing but not without considerable pain.  WITH ibuprofen, I could walk easily, although being careful with my unstable knee, and I could function normally. 

Meanwhile, I am able to carry the tunnel around with me, heavy as it may be, and I am managing to work my day job, as well as my all too frequent dog sitting. Thankfully, that comes to an end tomorrow for awhile. Each day I am exercising to some degree, and realizing that I do have a little more strength now that some of the stress is off my heart and kidneys.

Out of all this has come a lot of good, though, and I am grateful to know, and be able to take the action necessary.  With the arrival of some Spring days coming soon, I am planning to welcome the sun and flowers with a clearer head and stronger body. I have a great new co-worker at the office and look forward to each day.

Wishing you all a beautiful day.

Lack of Sleep

Yesterday afternoon when exhaustion and "rising to the occasion" just about got the best of me, a phrase was suddenly in my face and it literally saved me from saying and doing some things that could have altered my life and love permanently.....so, for today, here is my mantra, "Whatever is happening, is the path to enlightenment"....onward and upward, hoist on my own petard of saying frequently that learning is a lifelong commitment.

Working half a day today so I can have my taxes done. The sun is shining and I await a temp in the office to hold the fort in my absence.

Happy day to you all and enjoy your path!

As the Storm Faded, Some Birthday Joy

Do to a winter of what has seemed like endless colds, ear infections, snowstorms, etc, Samantha and Teddy had been waiting months to see each other!  Last Saturday we finally made that possible and had a lovely celebration of Samantha's 6th birthday. Jason, Alison and Teddy were our wonderful hosts, as always.  To start the party off, they each got a big goody bag and much hilarity ensued as they dug down deep to find all the little surprises.

Making the most of his present, Teddy made a hat out of the empty bag.

While dinner preparation was taking place, LM and Kristi had the best fun creating entertainment. LM revealed an unknown talent to me by creating a menagerie of Play-Do creatures and held his audience in fascination.

Samantha made "bricks" and loaded a dump truck!

Kristi showing off her kitty creation and LM, an elephant.

Rapt attention to detail.

Meanwhile, the wonderful aroma of sauteed chicken and roasting root vegetables was filling the house, and Alison put the finishing touches on a "StrawberryShortcake" party.

My Christmas gift to Jason and Alison adorning the living room sofa.

Strawberry cake.....frosted with Mum's recipe for 7-minute icing.

After dinner, as Samantha eagerly awaited opening her gifts, LM was leading a balloon volleyball game.

Nana and her sweet ones.

Kristi watching over the gifts wearing her beloved Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt and sporting her new haircut.

Some very precious and all too infrequent time together.

Sara and Samantha....Sara with a pretty new haircut, too.

Alsion and a very tired Teddy at the end of the party.

Finally the birthday cake!

The evening ended with some light stick fun but the bright neon blue didn't show in my photos.

It was so nice to have family together and hear the laughter and happy feet.  As we were sitting down to dinner the sun came out briefly and that made the day even brighter.  We've just had a week of high winds, heavy rain and devastating coastal damage.  In fact, even a week later, we are still waiting to see the sun again.  As I write this morning it is pouring again.

They say that change is good, I have often espoused such sentiment here, yet, it seems, I am called upon to be more and more adaptable and resilient these days. Each day there is a new crisis involving Kristi and her mother, the estate, etc, and yet, there really is no change as Ellen lingers, sadly in the nursing home. There is also the fact that LM's son, John, has taken a job on a sea clamming boat.  Most certainly one of the most dangerous jobs there is to be had in our fishing community.  LM uses more than the energy he has to keep things in some semblance of order, and there seems to be something different and difficult for him to deal with each day.  Saturday night, after the sweet party interlude, we hugged each other in his driveway, before I left to come home, and said simultaneously to each other, "I want our life back".....he asked me not to give up on him, on our life, and I sobbed all the way home, and guiltily felt relieved that I could go home to be alone in quiet.
The next morning, I threw myself in to what has become my salvation, and finished up a quilt top,  began a series of other projects, and really enjoyed a day with no noise and some meditation.  Yesterday morning, I set off to begin a new day of work, feeling somewhat collected.  As soon as I walked in to the office, I was asked to step into the CEO's office. When the door was closed behind me I knew there was change afoot. He announced that the fairly new (8 months) firm administrator - the executive assistant to the president and himself, the CEO, had been let go, big gulp, and "oh yes, I will pick up the slack until the new person arrives next week, and I will train the new person, AND tend to my job and the needs of the clients & the Design Principal, YET AGAIN.  Change.  Somehow, I did feel energized by it all. Of course, I sensed the person was not right for the job, but I kept hoping, asking if I could help her, etc. Fortunately the principals are very respectful of me, as is all the staff, and I will receive a lot of support with this transition, but.........CHANGE. What is the message?   It kept me awake last night....not from fear, I don't know why.  Most of the waking hours, I tried to focus on the fact that I am up for the adjustment, and so happy to have such a great job that I love going to each day.

Onward and upward......grabbing on to my sanity, it is time to get dressed, and return to another day of work.  So nice I have the laughter of Samantha and Teddy still rining in my ears and heart.

Love to all.

Spring Training - Chatham Style

Field conditions have been poor, but training is going on everyday!!  This is my right field view all day from my desk.  Someone came and fired a gun above the "players'" heads, they took off in a massive black cloud, and were back within 1/2 hour....training must go on! You can still see blizzard remnants near the bleachers.

Happy weekend, everyone.....lots of love to all!

The Country Mouse

Yesterday, the article linked below came to my attention and I wanted to share it here, as well. Back in the late 1970's to early 80's, I lived in the house that the article details.  Sadly today it is in ruins and falling in to the ground.  At the bottom of the article there is a photo showing how lovely it was when I lived there with son, Jason and two cats, Purrsi and Mocha. We lived on the entire second floor in 4 huge and very bright rooms with the most beautiful hardwood floors and several lovely fireplaces, including a tiny one in the kitchen.

My time at "The Mouse House," as we called it, was very creative and interesting. I was newly in love with my third husband-to-be at the time - a very deep love affair that lasted 18 yrs, but  became a troubled, and eventually, ill-fated pairing.  Out of the pain came a lot of creative writing, and to this day, whenever I drink chamomile tea, I am reminded of those days and long nights, waiting for my love to visit.

The owners of The Country Mouse, a rather eccentric and loving British couple, became our very good friends and were kind to us in  many ways.  They ran an antique shop, a furniture refinishing business, and the wife, Gini, made little stuffed mice dressed in all sorts of outfits who  seemed to draw a rather large clientele.  She was also an artist and sold her paintings in the shop.  The history of the house is detailed below, but suffice it to say, it is quite appropriate that I lived for a time in a former insane asylum!!

Also, I own a beautiful 1st edition of the book, "Aunt Sally's Friends in Fur" and consider it a treasure.  Enjoy!

http://sandwichhistory.org/dbayley/?p=41

Sew Crazy

Well it has been a busy time of creating here, and I keep having to reel my creative energy into line as too many ideas are flowing at once.  I keep writing them down to get them out of my head. Having my fabric stash and some works in progress on full view in my sitting room really contributes to more and more ideas.  The blue quilt above does not have a recipient at this time, but I am sure the right one will come along.  Blue makes my soul sing and is, by far, my favorite color to work with.  Cats make an appearance in all my quilts...cannot help myself, and then there is usually a donkey, too.

This is the center body of  another grandson quilt....it has some neat Gothic cats and other interesting fabric.  Last night I spent some time searching for the right tailored gray fabric for the wide border, but I still have not decided on a what the first narrow border will be or the backing.

This is the quilt I am making for myself and is a true exercise in going against the grain, as I would never choose these colors!!  Over the past several years, my bedroom has been evolving into a more and more peaceful space.  The walls have lovely natural grass wallpaper and then below wainscoting there is beautiful wood in a medium finish. The hardwood floors  are partially covered by a gently-textured berber carpeting. The room is basically very neutral.  There are ecru lace valences at the top and bottom of each window and over them are natural cotton fiber roman shades to draw down at night.  I have a very neutral colored down comforter on the bed with white quilted pillow shams.  Thus, when it came to making my own quilt, my usual blue was not going to work.  Also, I had some interesting, very old cat fabric I wanted to use, and it didn't blend well into blue.  Then I found the bird fabric and was off and running with warm tones.  The bits of orange and pale turquoise seem to work well, as does the deep magenta.  To keep the room neutral, I will form the backing of beige fabric and just have a corner of the quilt turned to the front.  We shall see how it all plays out.  Purple and white is going to be my next theme. 

In other news, last Saturday I visited 5 of my favorite thrift shops and came away with some nice finds.  Found this never-worn blouse for 6. and just love it. The outer layer is a chiffon-type matierial. It will be a nice addition to my Spring-summer work wardrobe.
 I also acquired a very high quality shirt covered with fish for a certain special someone, some lovely cotton fabric pieces which will be useful in future quilting projects, and some very nice  dress pants. A fun time!

As LM recovers from a really nasty bronchitis, I spent the weekend sewing, both hand and machine, as well as preparing my meals for the week using some interesting new recipes. I've been experimenting with kale for awhile, but not until I tried my friend, Karina's recipe for kale salad, has it clicked with me. The illustrations and description of massaging the kale had me intrigued, and I must say it is so easy to prepare and fun in the massaging, and all.  I made the salad and saved out some of the massaged kale to add to some chicken soup made yesterday afternoon while north east winds howled, and RAIN poured down.  If the temps had not risen we would be truly buried in snow.

A little after-note about the kale....I used some in the soup and it was delicious, and this morning I used the last of it in a green smoothie with spinach, pineapple, apple and some oat bran. It may sound unappetizing but really was delicious.


Love, peace and light to all!

I Love Winter, YES, I do!

 There is lots of sewing/quilting in my winter world, and I am loving my latest project, as it is finally a quilt for my bed!!  These are a few of the blocks I have done thus far.

 This is what it looks like outside today....yes, another big storm.  On the heels of my near-hypothermic experience last weekend, I am keeping busy as I pray the power does not go off again. Winds at 60+ mph right now.

 It keeps on coming.  A happy cocoon of cleaning, cooking, and blissful silence is keeping me very happy. A pork tenderloin is in the crock pot with a just-concocted marinade of brown sugar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, garlic and sherry, as well as some sweet chili sauce. I'll share it tomorrow with LM and Kristi. 

 A little more intense and the driving snow makes it dark.

 Winter also brings Valentine's Day and mine went over and abve to show his love this year.  I had to share the card.....we do love donkeys, and I guess he just about lost control when he found this card..I tried several times to rotate this photo but it wouldn't stay rotated - stubborn as a donkey, I guess.

 It is true love, no doubt. I am so blessed. 

 My Valentine also found this beautiful ring for me....put it round a candle (have them out in prep for a power failure).  Two lovely starfish to go round my finger. 

The groundhog told us we would only have two more weeks of winter and his time is about up.  I can't really say I mind it though.  We needed a good old-fashioned snowy spell, and our aquifer is surely breathing a deep sigh, or gulp, of relief.

Back to sewing, and looking forward to the Downton Abbey season finale tonight. So nice not to have to get up for work tomorrow, too.  Happy Presidents' Day, and much love to all!