Xmas

Cannot believe how many months have gone by since arriving from Illinois. Nina is doing real well and in remission.  I have been spending my time knitting and crocheting and doing silk ribbon projects.  Also took a class with Trish Burr from South Africa online and made her little Bee Eater, loved doing the project and I think for my first project it came out good.  Will be doing more thread painting projects soon.  Have fallen behind on TAST again, have about 6 weeks to make up and have not posted the pictures of all the ones I have done, need to do that soon.  I am also embellishing a sewing basket that I purchased, it is a pie safe basket and I love it so I am decorating the lid. Our Arts and Crafts group filled bags of candy for people living in our mobile home park.  Santa Claus will be coming around with elves passing out bags of candy to the residents, it was so much fun laughing and giggling with all the ladies while busy working.  I also have not been feeling good since returning from Illinois and two weeks ago I was rushed to the ER by paramedics with what everyone thought was a heart attack, after 7 hours in the ER I was transferred to my hospital and was there for 3 days and finally found out I had a gall bladder attack, the pain was horrible.  I will be having surgery on December 21st.  Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Yorkies

My yorkies survived the trip to and from Illinois, and enjoyed being on a farm. But I had to borrow a rifle to guard them while they were outside because of coyotes, two of them came to close to my boys and I was glad I had the rifle. They were really happy to be home, Harlee walked into the house and climbed up on my bed and stayed there. Since they are so small I had stairs built for them to climb up on the bed, and my bed sits real tall but the stairs come right to the top of my bed. They have settled in with all their toys and are doing real good.  They take such good care of me that I cannot move to do anything because all 3 boys move with me.

Home

I have finished putting away all my supplies I took to Illinois and everything looks neat and clean. I will begin doing the past Tast tasks that I have not done and catch up. Have missed working on the stitches.  My neighbor had a Margarita Ladies nite and we had a good time laughing and talking non-stop.

I am home we left Monday at 6 am and drove 18 hours and stopped for the night 40 miles before Amarillo Tx.  Tuesday we drove 17 hours and made it home at 8:50 pm.  I was exhausted but it felt good sleeping in my bed.  Have been unpacking and putting all my things away. My friend had her last chemo and we will find out July 16 how she is doing.  They will do a Pet Scan and a bone marrow test to see if her cancer is active or if she is in remission.  She is still weak but gets stronger with every passing week.  It was so sad to leave her but it was time to come home.  Met my new Great Grandson who was born shortly after I left for Illinois, he is a doll and always smiling and Gigi loved on him.  Hopefully by next week I can finish the last 3-4 weeks of Tast and then post all the pictures.  I am taking Trish Burr's internet class and that is exciting.

I have 21 days left and then I go home. My son is flying in on the 23rd of June and we will leave on the 24th.  I am really getting home sick and just want to sleep in my own bed.  I am glad I was able to come and get her through the rough part, she has one more chemo round on June 11, & 12th and then 7 days of shots and then shortly after I will be leaving.  Weather has been crazy we had a week of 96 degrees and 80 percent humidity and the other day we were 61 during the day. I have not done alot of sewing in the last few weeks my friend was feeling pretty bad and I spent alot of time caring for her. Soon, soon, soon I will be home.

I have had alot of time and have been knitting like crazy, made 1 knitting bag in a hot pink and a black and brown stripped large bag to felt and made the handles by braiding alot of strands together and then braiding 3 pieces together so it's thick and several inches wide.  Could not find a handle that I liked so I improvised. My friend Nina has had her 5th round of chemo this Monday and Tuesday and each one gets worse and has been feeling pretty lousey since.  She has her last one June 11th & 12th and then 1 shot a day for 7 days and then I will be packing to leave for home around June 28th or sometime around that date.
Have been doing the TAST 2012 weekly and have trouble posting because the air card is very slow and is hard to upload pictures.  When I get home I will have my great Internet service so will have no problems.
The weather has turned warm and it's in the mid 90s right now and no rain, the crops are in but there has been no rain and they are behind about 7 1/2 inchess so that is alot of rain shortage and everyone is hoping for rain to help the crops grow.
Had a wonderful Mother's Day my children sent bouquets of flowers and homemade cookies and books.  My friend Nina's son cooked for us for Mother's Day and it was delicious, so we had a wonderful day.

Today 4/10/12 my friend Nina goes in for her fourth chemo. Today is a 12 hour day and tomorrow a 4 hour day, there are two more months scheduled for chemo unless the Dr. changes it towards the end and feels she should have a few more. It is beautiful and sunny and about 65 degrees here in Illinois and the birds are singing and the trees have gotten their leaves. Easter was good Nina's son did the cooking and the food was delicious. Looking forward to today's stem stitch I will think about it today and get started stitching. Everyone have a great day.

Just posted TAST 12 on my blog after finishing the stitches, I loved this stich and I know I will be using it often. We had a big storm pass by with a Tornado not too far away, but it's all passed by now so all ok. Ran some errands with my friend and bought some sandals, did not bring any with me when I left home and it's been in the 80s so it has been warm.

I have finally caught up with all of the TAST stitches, except todays. I finished the last two this morning and took pictures of all my work and now I will post them and add them to the TAST pages. My friend has had 3 months of chemo and is doing so much better, she is regaining her strength and received some great news in St. Louis at the Medical Center, her Pet Scan was so much better did not show but a few spots of cancer and that is like a miracle. She at this point is scheduled for 3 more months of chemo and at the last one the Doctor will decide if he wants to do a few more. It was good news for the soul so all the treatments are well worth it. So,now I can do TAST weekly and stay caught up to date.

The hospital is about 60 miles round trip and we have been there almost every day for two weeks. So the miles are adding up. We also go Saturday and Sunday for an injection to help her platelets. It's really rough having cancer especially if you have no one to take you when you are so weak and shakey. But we will get her through this and with God's help a cure.

My friend had her second round of chemo and felt a little better today, we even watched a movie. Weather is real good today sunny and about 45 deg. Have not done much sewing having to go daily for lab, injections and chemo x 2 days.

It's snowing, the softest falling snow flakes and it is just beautiful. Had a good night rest and no lab and do not have to go anywhere today so will just enjoy the day and finish my sewing so I can catch up with everyone. I hated getting behind but it could not be helped I will finish today and then will wait for Tuesday.

Settling into a routine, lab everyday and the hospital is about 30 miles away. She has Chemo for 12 hours on Monday and Tues 2 1/2 hrs, will get some shopping done I need about 8 different yarns for projects that I am going to be doing. Found my book for my Tast stitches, I have not taken pictures yet but will soon, almost caught up on my stitching and will post it on my site soon. It has gotten real cold in the 30s and supposed to get colder.

I have unpacked and things in their place, except for boxes of needlework and supplies. Itching to get to sewing and catching up on the TAST weeks that I am behind. Have been helping my friend get settled after her hospital stay, still weak and getting therapy on her hands and legs due to the Guillame Barre. We sit and visit and chat and catching up and at times we just and watch tv. I have been knitting while visiting and have finished several more scarves for her since it will get real cold again. We have been in the 50's which is a heat wave for them, but it will get cold again. We are settling into somewhat of a routine, but there will be lots of Dr. & Lab visits. Have found the grocery store and Walmart and Burger King so I am all set.

I arrived in Illinois on Sunday afternoon. Two and a half days driving 1954 miles but we arrived safe and it was so good to see my friend Nina. Then that night I got food poisoning and have been sick, sick. Today is 24 hours later and I am finally able to keep a little water down. I am now 3 weeks behind in TAST and plan to get started stitching. I received my handmade book and as soon as I take pictures I will post them, I love it it is going to be wonderful and am so glad I found it. My son-in-law unloaded my car and then he flew out yesterday for home. Can't thank him enough for dropping everything to help get me here. It looks like I may be here for 9 months but we'll see how her chemo treatments go.

I leave on Friday am and am packing all of my sewing and knitting projects so that I have alot to do, along with taking my friend for physical therapy and chemo. Very anxious to see her and see for myself how she is doing. she is to be getting out of the hospital in the next few days so she should be home when I get to the farm. My Yorkies are following my footsteps because they see me packing and they know I am going somewhere and they are worried they aren't going with me. I have not received my handmade book yet so I can start putting my sewing on it, I will be playing catch up to the TAST stitches of the last 2 weeks but will post as soon as I have pictures.

So much has happened this year and here we are only 16 days into the new year, I became ill 2 days before Xmas with Bronchitis and am still not completely well. Then my best friend Nina who I met when our boys were 7 years old and playing little leage and are now 49 years old has been hospitalized in Indiana and was discovered to have Guillame Barre and during all the testing to discover the guillame barre she was also found to have Mantle Cell Lymphoma a rare cancer and in stage 4. I spoke to her Saturday and she knows I have not been able to fly there because of my ears and then I could only go for a couple of weeks at the most because of my 3 yorkies. So she suggested that I drive to Illinois and bring my yorkies that way I could stay longer, so talking to all my children they all thought that was a good idea, so my son-in-law is going to go with me so I don't go alone because it's over 2000 miles from California to So. Illinois where she's at. I will be leaving soon to arrive in Illinois about the same time that she is released from St. Louis University Medical Center so I can be there when she gets home. I will be gone 2-4 months and maybe more. She starts chemo tomorrow and Wednesday and then will have chemo once a month for 2 days so I will be driving her to Chemo and to physical therapy for her Guillame Barre. It's amazing how priorites change in our lives and right now she is my biggest concern and there is nothing either one of us would not do for the other, we share the same birthday May 25 we are the first born child and the list goes on and on. We say the same thing about a certain subject even though she is more than 1/2 way across the United States from me. I will be continuing with TAST and doing my stitching from my friend's home, maybe I can get her interested in it.

I have been searching for a way to display my TAST stitches and have looked at many ways to do so. I wanted to make a book but it seemed I was just spinning my wheels and not coming up with a solution. I finally found the most beautiful handmade book on Etsy that I purchased and am now waiting to receive, so do not want to do any more stitching until I have the book in my hands and can actually see the pages to know how big or small my stitching has to be.

I am so much better, I even went outside to get some sun and spoke to some neighbors. In April 2011 I moved from a large home to a retirement mobile home park and I am so glad that I did. I love my neighbors they are so friendly and warm. My home is 1700 sq ft with two bedrooms and two baths large master bedroom and my bath is huge with a sunken tub and lots of storage room. There are two clubhouses with a pool at each one, billiards room, exercise room and the clubhouses hold alot of people. There are many activities that I have become involved with and I just love the no stress living here. Only bad part is I have no land to put in a flower garden, everything is in pots, but that's okay because there is no weeding or grass cutting. I took down my Xmas decorations outside, but my tree is still up I have a hard time taking down my Xmas tree. Maybe in a few days I will take it down. Our weather has come down to about 74 deg. and a little cooler at night, but the days are beautiful blue skies and sunny. Sorting through my needlework to see what to start next, still have not decided how I am going to display my TAST stitches, though I want to make like a journal have not decided what size I will make it yet. I am still so excited about doing the TAST with so many people it was exciting to see all the different ways the stitches were displayed from real simple like mine to real elaborate.

I got dressed today first time in one week. Feeling better and thinking of starting some needlework, now have to select the new project.

Sick

Today I feel better, came home from Yosemite after Christmas sick. Went to the Dr. and I have Bronchitis real bad, and an eye infection. I am a mess and have been on antibiotics for 7 days now but still dragging and needing lots of rest. I did do my first week TAST and posted the picture, and then back to bed. We are having a heat wave and it's about 85 deg here in Southern California, I want it cold and gloomy, it's winter.

Hi everyone, so excited to post my first stitch on TAST. Week one is the Fly Stitch.

Happy New Year to all Stitchers

Happy New year to everyone, may 2012 bring us nothing but great sewing kits, and new ideas to design and make. And may all our thread wishes come true and all the other necessities we need to create our lovely things.