Where am I , Part Two

Where am I now ? Part two! If you have not read the first part do so now.
To continue my sage of where I am now I must go back to staying in the little sleepy town. I slept well and actually slept in. I knew the last leg of my trip would not take as long as the first leg, so I just took my time. It was breakfast time and I knew the place I wanted to eat was about 16 miles away. I made the pleasant drive on the curvy road taking in the scenery. Cows with calves, newly planted soil, various shades of green in the leaves of the trees and lots of “weeds” blooming. I love the terrain in this part of the county, because the hills must be planted in curved rows and the farmers will plant corn, soy beans and wheat in groupings of rows around the hills. It kind of reminds me of a quilt with curved rows.
The reason for the beautiful terrain in this area happened during the last glacial period when the ice was retreating; no excess materials were left behind. So ridges are deep due to lack of fill. I will describe more of this area later.
I walked into my favorite bakery in even a smaller town then I had stayed the previous night. I was greeting warmly. I told the owner “Bill kicked me out” and she laughed, because she was telling Bill the last time he was there to send me up to see and he stay home. Breakfast was wonderful as usual then I bought some bread and cookies and was on my way again. I had a little business to take care of in this town then left using the same road again heading north. I knew as long as I was either going north or west I would eventually reach my destination.
I went through many small towns. Almost all of the towns were near the river I was following. It was nice to see the pride the people took to keep the towns clean, manicured and pretty. Many of these old river towns have lots of history including some of the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories from The Little House on the Prairie books. Yes, the Ingalls did live in this part of the country when she was a very young child.
The cumulus clouds above were bright white with the background of a vivid blue. The sky was very different from the previous day on another part of my trip. I spotted a strawberry patch just a few feet down a side road, so I stopped. I didn’t want to take the time to pick berries, so I just bought some along with some blueberries and a few tomatoes.
As I was traveling I again was taking in the terrain. Some parts of the landscape just seemed to jute out of the ground into a very high plateau. These areas would allow a person to see miles and miles if you were atop the giant structure.
Historical markers were about every 10 or 15 miles. I didn’t stop to read many, but I notice some marked where previous Forts had been located right along the river.
When I was getting close to the end of my journey I had to again cross a “mighty” river that didn’t look so mighty at this location. The weather is cool and the humidity is reasonable. I am a little north of two cities that the mighty river divides. Have you guessed where I am located?
I actually am just north of St Paul MN at the edge of Hugo. Yesterday I visited the town of White Bear Lake where I spent some time in two very different from each other Quilt Shops. I have had a great time, rested and am now ready for my trip home. I plan to go south via the Mississippi River road but this time in MN instead of WI like I traveled on the way up. I will take my time traveling and will stop at a few towns along the way. When I arrive home I am sure I will wish I was back north as I have heard the weather in KY is very hot and equally humid. I am not looking forward to the hot weather, but am looking forward to being again with Bill, Dad, Mom and friends.
Until next time,
Peggy

Where am I?

Where am I? Right now I am sitting in my friends Debby and Mark’s dining room. I was looking at my mail, but the wireless connection I was using is no longer available. Debby has not come home from work and Mark is busy doing other things, so I decided to write in word until I can post.
As you may or may not know my dear husband, Bill, and I watch after my parents. One of the things we do is to make sure my Dad is taken to town every day so he can spend about 4 hours every day with my Mom in the Nursing Home where she resides. This is kind of wearing at times, but we would have it no other way. Bill and I usually take turns providing the transportation, but since Tuesday afternoon Bill has been doing all the transportation. I am sure he is wore out by now, because we have other duties to do, the weather at home is really hot and humid and that also means 4 hours in town for the one providing the transportation. So where am I????? Well as I say “Bill kicked me out!!!!!!!!” Not really, but he did tell me I needed a break and decided I should leave home for a few days.
I took Dad into town Tuesday morning. Then I went directly to the DR for my 6 month checkup. My appointment was scheduled for 9:45 am. I was hoping to leave town by 11:00am, but as you know, DR’s run on a different schedule. Sometimes it is a patient’s fault, but more often than not the DR has over scheduled, took a phone call or did something else to delay the people waiting. I left the office at 11:30 or so. Went to two banks and met Bill at our favorite restaurant. We ate a quick meal and I was on my way……heading north!
As many of you know we have many relatives north of KY. We also have several friends north of KY, but I choose to visit the friends farthest away. They graciously welcomed me. It did take me two traveling days to get here. The first day I was delayed by the DR, spent more than an hour in a Truck Stop waiting for the bad storms to pass. The rain was actually travelling parallel to the ground. I did get wet running from the van to the door of the Truck Stop, but some nice man opened the door for me…..Thank You!
After the wait at the Truck Stop I continued my journey. I had a goal to reach a certain destination, but was not sure I would make it. My journey was to soon take me down unfamiliar roads. The weather had cleared, traffic was not bad and since I had a bit of a rest I was feeling good. I made it through my first “city” with no problems. It would be a long time before I see another city of any size. My journey has now taken me a little west by northwest. It was about 10:30pm when I realized I was going to be travelling near a friend’s home. I had also earlier passed another friend’s home, but my destination for the night was still in mind. The sky was clear. In fact there was a beautiful crescent moon that seemed to be setting changing color from a shocking white to a fall harvest orange color.
Construction signs everywhere….all directions, so I just followed a recently created ”one lane road” that took me into a new state and around a cluster of 4 cities than eventually a new direction, North. My destination for the evening was now doable, but I would arrive late, about midnight. I really took a chance that a room would be available in the motel in the little town I was aiming to reach before I sleep.
As I entered the sleepy town I pulled over and called the motel to be sure a room was available. One was waiting for me when I arrived. Now, time to rest…….more hints to be posted at a later time.

Time Out

Today I have decided it is important to take some "Time Out" to write a bit in my blog. I can't believe that it has been so long since I last posted. No wonder people have called and written to me to find out if we are all OK.

Since I last wrote either Bill or I have taken Dad into town everyday so he can spend some time with Mom. He arrives in the morning at the nursing home and stays through lunch. Then we go home and he usually will do his scratch off lottery tickets, does the crossword puzzle in the paper and takes a nap. He has really cut back on his activities, because his balance seems to be going down hill.

Mom has good days and not so good days with her memory. Most days she can carry on a sensible conversation, but other times she will talk about stuff that makes no sense. Bill is really good talking with her when she makes no sense, because he will go along with what ever she wants to talk about even if it is way out. The other day she was talking about doing the laundry. Bill told her that she didn't do his laundry and she responded..."I don't wash clothes that are not in the laundry basket." For the longest time I could not figure out what she was talking about when she mentioned the children playing or the babies she held. Then one day I saw one of the workers with her baby in the nursing home. The workers bring their babies and children in ofter as well as some of the daycare children schedule regular visits.

Our drive way is mostly hill. This past year or so we have had extreme amounts of rain some of which came down hard. Our gravel drive washed out with very deep ruts. We were finally able to get someone out to fix the drive, cutting in a new ditch and added a bit of gravel. So far it has held and packed nicely. Next we need to cut down some of the trees limbs that overhang into the drive.

Bill and I planted a few vegetable plants in pots at the house. We no longer do the big garden. I think he will be harvesting a tomato very soon. We also have a hot pepper ready, but I am in no hurry to pick it.

Well it is time for me to pick up Dad from his visit with Mom.

Till next time...

Peggy

As the World Goes Around

March is nearly over and so is winter. The snow and cold weather lasted longer this year, so we are just seeing signs of spring. I am not looking forward to summer with all the heat and humidity. Bill and I noticed how much colder it felt here then it did in WI when we arrived home earlier this month. The dampness made the same temperature feel colder even with no snow on the ground.



I have been working on a couple of quilts. One is ready to be sandwiched and quilted for Quilting Treasures. The other is made up of many....many triangles. I make headway on it daily, but it seems to be taking a long time to make. I only need to get the top done and I am to the point of sewing the block units together. It will be done before long. I guess most of the quilts I have made lately have had picture panels that don't require lots of piecing, plus most have been smaller.

Well I wrote much more on this post, but lost it. I will just make a note that Mom, Dad and Bill have had a twenty four hour bug that started at the nursing home, but all are better now.

I will write more when I have time.

On My Design Wall

My actual time for creating has gone down over the past few years due to care of my parents. At any one time in the past I may have been working on any number of quilts. Now it seems I only work on quilts when I am making one I can't show you because it is for a fabric company. So today I am going to show you what I am working on. It is not a quilt, but I am using up some of my stash.

I am working with a new product distributed by Superior Threads called Texture Magic. I actually am a Rep in Western KY and Western TN plus a bit of IN for the company. I had to put some of my rep work on hold for a while until Bill and I can work out a schedule. When he gets home from Wisonsin we will decide who will take my Dad to the nursing home to see my Mom. In the mean time I will be working on samples when I am not in town with Dad.

The way Texture Magic works is that it is sewn to the back of a piece of fabric that you want to add a texture to the surface. You can sew in grids, feathers, random methods, stipple and actually us this as a time to practice machine quilting or try out a new design. These can be close together or far apart.

I sometimes just follow the pattern on the fabric.

Then the fabric is steamed (if using an iron to steam be careful to not touch the Texture Magic with the hot iron). The Texture Magic fabric will shrink up to 30% leaving the Texture Magic side flat and the fabric side puffed. At that point the fabric can be cut for quilts, clothing, purses, pillows etc. After it is steamed the Texture Magic is soft and silky and washable.

The places where the stitching is close the fabric creates a fine texture. The areas stitched far apart will shink the most, but the fabric will lay in folds. The folds may change with use. Soon I will cut this piece and add other fabrics to make a purse and/or a pillow. I think the scraps can be used in applique as trees.

Jan. 3 stash report

As I am sitting here in front of my computer making my first stash report of the year I really don't want to complain, but I am freezing. Yes, the furnance is running, so is the humidifier, but I hate electric heat. I have on an undershirt, 2 T-shirts and my longer winter jacket on top. Bottom underpants and flannel long pants, socks, fuzzy high top slippers,and a fleece blanket wrapped around. Actually right now it is only my nose, feet and hands that are cold. So I am going to use that as my excuse for not sewing, well it works for me! My report is Nothing Gained and Nothing Lost! Actually I am going to try harder this year and stop looking for excuses. I just need to get some work done. If I use up fabric wonderful. If I don't I will enjoy what everyone else is doing.

Happy New Year,
Peggy

As the year ends.....

The year 2009 has been a year of much contrast. The year started out with much hope and enthusiasm, but as it progressed we could see the writing on the wall that old age or illness brings to those we love. This year several people I loved passed on to a better place. Others have had to move to places that can give them better care then their loved ones could give them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.

My Mother had been going down mentally for many years, but this year she changed by leaps and bounds at times. We had visits with several close relatives and I am sure she some of them she had no idea who they were and why we were having dinner with them.

Bill and I made a trip to WI before the weather turned bad back in mid November. When we left Mom was having some physical problems with her walking, but she could walk and take care of her personal self. When we returned from our trip we noticed a difference in her, but didn't realize until a few days later how much she had changed in just a little over a week. Right before Thanksgiving she could no longer walk. Bill and I transported her where ever she needed to go in the house. Finally, when we were spending more time taking care of her then sleeping during the night and Bill, Dad and I were exhausted, we didn't ask her, we told her that she was going into the hospital the day after Thanksgiving. We knew she was ill, but did not realize that if we had waited many more days I would be telling you now that we lost my Mom, but instead I am going to tell you that she is now in a Care Center. After 5 days in the hospital, many doses of anti-biotic and diuretics she is better.

Unfortunately, she still can not walk on her own. Physically she can walk, I have seen her do it, but mentally she has trouble getting her brain to tell her legs to move. I guess there is hope that she will walk again, but not much when you know that within two hours of eating a meal she does not remember eating. Doesn't she look good in the piture above with my Dad taken a couple of weeks ago.

Mom wants to come home, but our house isn't set up to handle a person in a wheel chair. She doesn't get upset when we leave her, but she worries about my Dad. I too worry about my Dad. He is so sad to have to leave Mom when we visit her every day. The two of them have been together for nearly 64 years. The only time they were apart was when my brother and I were born, an operation or two plus a few hunting and fishing trips my Dad took when we lived near his family. They were also apart when the weather man predicted partly cloudy weather and we ended up with 27" of wet snow. My Dad was not far away, but he could not come home from work for nearly a week.

So far we have made sure Dad visits with Mom at least once a day, but with the winter weather just starting it is a day to day option.

Bill is in Wisconsin right now. His son had an operation to fuse some vertebrae in his neck. That happened Dec. 29th and all reports are he is doing well, but Bill had to leave Christmas morning and I miss him dearly. On Dec. 24th we received a phone call from Bill's sister early in the morning. Bill's younger brother had a heart attack and died at the young age of 51. Tim, Bill's brother, left this world without seeing the joys of any of his three children getting married or having children.

Several friends and relatives have died this year, several others have found out they have cancer or other diseases. It is interesting to see how each has made the best of the time they have. For instance,one person started a butterfly garden and cared for it at a local school while she was fighting and lost the battle to cancer. Another is legally blind, but every week she and a friend take either dogs or cats to the local assisted living or nursing homes for those living there to see and pet the animals.

Several people we know that have passed this year,made trips to the local restaurants for a meal and never let the rest of us know how sick they really were,until we heard they had died. They would share with us who were willing to listen, a love of life that included stories. These stories have taught me much history, made me laugh and made me cry.

I count my blessings every day to have been touched by so many good people in this world. I also hope that I continue to see others live life to the fullest.

We now must look to the new year that is approaching quickly, not with sadness, but with hope and courage. Let's not sit and feel sorry for ourselves, but let's try to make life better for others which in turn will make life better for everyone.

Happy 2010 to everyone reading my blog and I do promise to write more and show you some exciting pictures and tell a story or two.

Peggy