Slow Sunday Stitching

Hope everyone here in the U.S had a Happy Thanksgiving!  

Ours was sort of messed up.  We were having it here, and so I spent the week cleaning house, cleaning carpet, shopping for groceries.  This is all amidst John's therapists in the morning, 2-3 each day, and helping him do his therapy exercises, and being his cheerleader, trying to get him motivated to want to stay awake.  He is not really inclined to think of doing his exercises on his own.  The one good thing that happened this week has been he has been sitting up 3 times a day to eat his meals.  

So Wednesday evening, after everything else had been done, I started making 5 pies, cranberry sauce, and ambrosia.  Before I went to bed I had some new avocado salsa that was being advertised lately and some chips.  That night I got no sleep, my calves felt like rubber bands all night from standing all day long, and my abdomen felt weird.

Thanksgiving morning, I got up and fed John, got his exercises done, and started working on dressing.  I had started having diarrhea, and it got worse and worse.  I don't think that salsa agreed with me the night before, or maybe it was bad, but I kept thinking "I can't do Thanksgiving here", entertain everyone, clean up afterward.  So I called one of my daughters, told them I had everything done.  John's brother Roger would cook the turkey in the BBQ, all they had to do was pick up the food, make mashed potatoes and green beans.  So that is what happened, I pretty much cooked the meal, sent it over to my daughter's house and they celebrated without us.   They were very thankful I made the gravy too.  John and I had some stuffing and gravy set aside for dinner, and Roger brought back leftovers later.  

Daughter Katie captured pictures of Thanksgiving day with my two daughters and their families, and sister.  

Sadly, John's brother Roger left this morning to return home to North Carolina.   So I no longer have the vast amount of help Roger provided with John's care.  Hopefully he will continue to get stronger and we can manage by ourselves again.  Therapy will still be continuing to come out daily.  

Roger wanted some pictures before he left this morning of us with John.  John doesn't usually smile but he did with our picture, not with the one with him and Roger.  My picture isn't very flattering at this angle, but at least we got some taken. 

I have gotten absolutely zilch done this week quilting wise.  

For Slow Sunday Stitching this week I hope to work on this Ella Maria Deacon block from last month.  I hope to get my sewing machine back out this week and get to working again on Christmas presents.  

I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Head on over and find out what everyone else has been up to.

Thanks for stopping by!  

HQAL, Slow Sunday Stitching, Giveaway Prize

Since the last check-in for Hand Quilt Along I did finish my Father Christmas top, which I had previously shared.    The Father Christmases were all hand-appliqued.  I started this around 1999 with the guy up in the right hand corner, and he has hung around my sewing room lonely until around 2018 when I started working on a few blocks at a time.  I am thrilled to finally have the top completed.  It probably won't be quilted until next year.  

While this was not hand work, I also completed all 12 blocks of the QAL by the Sea by Partners in Design.   The last 4 blocks, and all 12 blocks together.  I have a plan for another larger block, but this also will have to wait till next year.

I finally got one more tea towel embroidered this week.  These are iron-on transfers from Quilters Revolution.  

I was also able to finish up a couple more blocks from the Ella Maria Deacon from last month.  I am trying to finish the last one up, as next month's have been released, which I probably won't be able to get to till after Thanksgiving.

The hand-quilting and stitching links are below.  Check out what everyone has been doing!

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Daisy, Connie, Monica and Sherrie

 

I will be linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts.    Check out what everyone has been doing there too.   I will be working on my last Ella Maria Deacon block, and I also have another Stitcher's Revolution prepped to stitch.

This week has been a  hard one again.  My husband has been home, is till bed bound.  He has had BP issues this week, being too high, but it is probably because he has been in bed.  It is not usually this high when he is sitting up.  This has necessitated calls to the Dr., changes in medications.  

We have had multiple therapies coming in everyday 2-3 which take up most of the day.  I am helping him with some exercises in bed.  Home Health has been worried enough about him that they have are coming all weekend.  We collected a specimen for urine testing today, and hopefully that is clear.  He is still eating poorly off and on, though this evening he asked for more pasta which is good.  But his appetite has been up and down.  

I finally picked up all my quilting stuff out of the kitchen and dining room to get ready for Thanksgiving.  BIL Roger has been a big help with John and helping me move furniture to clean carpets.  I had hoped to get a few more things prepped for hand sewing, but I am tired, and couldn't get myself to do it.  

I was able to get an appointment on Monday to get a cortisone injection in my knee.  My knee has been hurting so bad at night I can only get 2-3 hours of sleep, and it has been killing me with the barometric pressure changes.  

One bright spot this week has been a package I received from Tasmania, Australia this week from Kim @Sarah Lizzies.  I won one of her beautiful Parisian boots.  Her pictures here do the boot justice.  I won the cream colored one.  My picture does it no justice at all, poor lighting on a gloomy day. The boot is exquisite, and came after a particularly stressful day with mix ups with a couple of the therapists coming over, and things seeming to be falling through this way and that.  I love the boot, and so much appreciate Kim and all the work she put into it.  It made my day for sure, as did her beautiful note!

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure and visit the other links above.  

Virtual Cookie Exchange And Blog Hop Coming Up

The Virtual Cookie Exchange and Blog Hop is coming up, hosted by the fabulous Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt.  I always look forward to this blog hop.  It is December 1-4, and my day is the 3rd.

Currently the line-up is as follows:

December 1

Creatin' in the Sticks

Doreen – Just Let Me Quilt Guest

Bumbleberry Stitches

Home Sewn By Us

Quilt Schmilt

Food for Thought

Life in the Scrapatch

Ms P Designs USA

Just Sew Quilter

Cathie's Craftworks

Cynthia's Creating Ark

 December 2

MooseStashQuilting

Karen's Korner

Sew Many Yarns

Selina Quilts

Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life

Days Filled With Joy

Words & Stitches

Just Because Quilts

Beaquilter

December 3

Quiltscapes

Websterquilt

DayBrook Designs

Karrin’s Crazy World

Samelia's Mum

Songbird Designs

For The Love Of Geese

Stitchin At Home

Dreamworthy Quilts

That Fabric Feeling

 December 4

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilt Fabrication

DesertSky Quilting

Seams To Be Sew

Happy Cottage Quilter

Pumpkin Patch Patterns & Quilting

The Darling Dogwood

Kathleen McMusing

Scrapdash

Thanks for stopping by, and see you soon!

Slow Sunday Stitching, Another Rough Week

I didn't get much sewing done this week due to what is stated below.  I did finish some hand stitching on my last QAL by the Sea block by Partner's in Design.  The block last week was the lighthouse.  These are the last 4 blocks.   I think before I put these blocks together I want to do a mermaid for my complete quilt.  

I also finally finished this Ella Maria Deacon block.  I have been working on this for two weeks it seems.  My applique was off, but it is going to stay as is.  Maybe I'll make a notation on it that John fell when I was working on this block.  I have two more blocks to do for last month, and I will be working on those for my Slow Sunday Stitching.

I will also be working on my last month's block of Cassandra's Circle.  I still need to prep the block for that.  I laid the other blocks on the floor today and took a picture.  

I also got the last two borders on my Father Christmas quilt.  

I will be linking up at Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts.  Head on over and see what other's have been working on.  

This week has been another rough week.  Trying to get information out of the rehab facility my husband was placed  in was like trying to pull teeth.  Last Monday, I was waiting to pick up my grandchildren, a nurse helped him call me.  He was telling me was depressed, was barely coherent and crying when I told him I loved him. I sat waiting in the front of the school crying myself.

 Monday afternoon I asked the Dr. at the facility to give me a call back.  She called me at dinner time, and told me they had not been able to work him with yet,  that he was very weak, and he told her he did not feel he was making any progress.  I told her I wanted him to come back home with Home Health.  

The team meeting was the next day and they discussed his progress/lack of it and it was decided he would be sent home on Thursday, after his brother Roger had gotten here from North Carolina Wednesday evening.  

Wednesday afternoon I had a video conference call with the OT and PT at the rehab showing me how to get him up, and into a wheelchair.  I didn't find this particularly informative, but they tried.  For one thing, they had heavy plastic shields around their face, had heavy accents, and I have hearing difficulties in the best of conditions.  I sometimes have to see people's lips.  They had masks on and heavy plastic shields.  I am generally able to get him up from a chair or bed and grabbing onto his walker than it took the 2 of them to do.  

They brought him by gurney transport on Thursday.  He has been on an antibiotic for a week which can cause diarrhea.  Right before he left, for some unknown reason, they gave him a rectal suppository.  He has had diarrhea since he came home andis in diapers (which he wasn't in before).  We have had 2 bed changes today and a lot of laundry.  I was thinking when you have a little baby and they have a blowout or a messy diaper, you lift up their legs and clean them up, roll the messy diaper out and can clean them up.  A 270 pound adult  it is not that easy.  

He is not really able to walk, in fact he slipped to the floor tonight when Roger and I were trying to move him to a chair to eat dinner.  He only had to take 8-10 steps to get to the chair.  Fire Department was out to pick him up again, one of the same guys from two weeks  ago.  He did request to move to his chair this morning and we were able to do it without problem and get him back to bed.  

He is eating a little better now, but the first few days, he had a couple of bites of tapioca pudding, Jello, 4 bites of pancake this morning, a couple of Ensure.    He  told me has not been bathed the whole time he was gone (10 days), and they had not given him a toothbrush to brush his teeth.  But the big thing that got me was giving him a suppository when the antibiotic side-effect is diarrhea.  I was so worried about him yesterday, he was not eating much, drinking much, sleeping all day.  His breathing was even when he was sleeping.  He has asthma, and he kept snorting and coughing when he would doze off.  I finally put on his CPAP mask so he could breathe better.  He was on oxygen off and on in the hospital, and rehab, though he doesn't have it at home.  

We are due to have Home Health be started on Monday.  He has been ordered nursing, occupational therapy, speech therapy and maybe a bath aide.  

Hopefully he will be able to get some help  with the therapies at home.  He didn't obtain any help the 10 days he was out of my care.  He is much better emotionally here at home at least.  I couldn't in all good conscious leave him there, with no access to seeing him and very little talking to him.  Our daughters have both been to visit today and he has seemed in good spirits.  

I hadn't mentioned it before, but last week walking around my bed, I stubbed my baby toe on the drawer underneath my bed.  I asked my Dr. for an x-ray, and apparently I have a nondisplaced fracture and they told me to tape it to the  4th toe.  That hurt worse, so I took the tape off.  Tonight when  John went down on the floor again, his walker ran over my baby toe.  It is swollen more now.  I guess I just need to wear shoes in the house or something.  

Well that is it for this week's saga.  Hope you have a great week, and hopefully we will too!

Slow Sunday Stitching

If you just want to read about my Slow Sunday Stitching, you can skip to the bottom.

This week has not been a good week for us.  Monday night, after watching The Voice, I helped my husband into the bathroom to get ready for bed.   He is a fall risk, and I always walk behind him.  As we were walking down the hall, his legs were really wobbly.  By the time we got to the bathroom, his legs collapsed.  As he is a big guy and can't get up by himself, we called the firemen to pick him up.  He was so weak when they were here, they advised taking him to the hospital to be evaluated.  I drove up to the ER and they would not let me in, even though I explained I was his caregiver, power of attorney and he had some cognitive issues.  They ran tests and scans and didn't find anything.  He told them he  had just come on that night, where if they had allowed me to give the history, I would have said it was about 2 weeks.  I would have told him he has difficulty finding words and getting out what he wants to say.

About 2:30 a.m. the Dr. finally called me back and told me what was going on, and they hadn't found anything.  They kept him till Wednesday morning and sent him to rehab.  I was finally able to speak to him before he left for rehab, where visitors are not allowed either.

Wednesday I received calls from the rehab facility asking for his history.  Thursday morning, I received a flurry of calls, from therapists, nurses and the Dr.   Apparently he had some garbled speech, and shaking, and they were afraid of mini-strokes and took him back to ER for an MRI.  They kept him overnight, MRI was negative,  They kept him overnight again.  I insisted on going into the ER yesterday to be with him before they sent him back to rehab.  I was able to spend about 5 hours with him.  He said they didn't give him dinner the night before, but not sure how accurate that was, because I also heard they were worried about him choking on food.  

I asked him how he was when I got there, and he said he was confused.  He cried multiple times when I told him how much I loved him, and that he was no burden to me as he is constantly worried about.  I was able to get him to eat miniscule amount of food for breakfast and lunch.  They brought him sausage for breakfast but told him he couldn't eat it because they were worried about him choking.  That was what he wanted to eat!    I told him when I was there I cleaned a great big dust ball off our headboard and it fell on my pillow.  I did get him to smile when I stated we should "fire the housekeeper".

Today I have spent the day trying to call him, or speak to someone.  I was finally able to speak to his nurse tonight.  I suggested his food intake needed to be monitored as he has been trying to limit his food, and it is really not adequate for his size.  

This is particularly hard, as about 3 years ago, about this same time he had a really bad patch, and both happen around our anniversary, November 16th.  We will be married 45 years on November 16th.  I am terrified of him not making it out of rehab.  If he is not eating, he is not going to get stronger. 

Anyway, my usual activities have been disrupted this week, mainly from worry.  I have been cleaning house.  I deep cleaned the living room, which is where his hospital bed is.  And as he has asthma, I want to keep it as dust free as possible.  But also because he is in this room 100% of the time, it is hard to get a thorough cleaning.  I borrowed my daughter's carpet cleaner and it is cleaner than it has been for several years, and all ready for him to be back home.

Also John's brother Roger is coming for a visit until after Thanksgiving.  This was already scheduled and I am hoping Roger is able to see John while he is here.  

I have been too distracted to sew.  I can't seem to sit still, and I am not watching TV at night like John and I do together, so haven't been stitching.  I did get this Ella Maria Deacon done last week before all this started.

I also got my Father Christmases together.  I still have a sashing and a border to put on.  I hope to do that this week.

So for Slow Sunday Stitching, hopefully I will be able to work on the rest of my Ella Maria Deacon blocks done.  I also hope to prep some more applique for when my brother-in-law gets here, so I have something to do while he is here.  I am going to have to take down my quilting machine in the dining room, and my sewing machine in the kitchen.  

I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Head on over there and see what everyone is up to!  

Thanks so much for stopping by and listening to me ramble.

350 Blocks Project-October

 

The goal for October was 31 blocks.  I came nowhere near that amount.  

QAL by the Sea:  3 blocks.  

Stitchery Blocks:  2 blocks

Happy Haunting  1 block

Father Christmas:  2 blocks

Pieces From the Past:  2 blocks

From the Heart:  1 block

So I had a total of 11 blocks.

I'll be reporting my totals to Prairie Moon Quilts.    

One Monthly Goal-November

 

It's time to set a goal and link it up for November at Elm Street Quilts, One Monthly Goal.  I really appreciate the motivation this gives me to get one thing done, and appreciate all that Patty does to encourage us.  

My monthly goal for November is to quilt Holly Baskets.  This will be a gift for my sister for Christmas.  I need to get this done before the week before Thanksgiving as I am going to have to take my quilting frame down, as it is in the dining room!  

I'll be linking up One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.