Live long enough to be trouble for your kids.......

Many years ago, my mother had cross stitched a pillow that read:  Live long enough to be a problem for your children!  It was proudly displayed on her sofa as a sort of running joke about the problems Kenny and I caused her as we were growing up. 

Her father, my beloved Papa, was diagnosed with Alzheimers around age 80.  Mom was an only child.  Prior to this she had dealt with her mother's death, finding out about my grandfather's mistress of 40 odd years, having him marry his mistress, watching him move from Louisiana to Houston and then develop Alzheimers Disease.  In the middle of dealing with him driving from Houston back to Laplace LA instead of ending up at the grocery store down the street one day, she made a big display of cutting that pillow to shreds.

Well now, all these years later, I am in her shoes.  I am dealing with her Alzheimers Disease.  Her husband is in a nursing home following a stroke. She still lives in his house and his kids shuttle her back and forth to the nursing home daily.  So today she decided for some reason to wheel him into the parking lot and try to take him to the Catholic Church across the road from the nursing home.  She couldn't get him too far, so she left him in the parking lot and continued herself. 

Well, let me tell you.  It upset a whole lot of people.  Including the nursing home administration.  So they have fitted the wheelchair with a WanderGuard and with my permission, will fit her with one tomorrow.  The WanderGuards are what the celebrities wear when they are restricted to home or a halfway house.  So she can be considered to be moving up in the social world, I guess.

After spending an hour or so on the phone with the nursing home this morning, I think we have got this settled.  And I spent the rest of the day, with scissors in hand, searching my house for that pillow..........................

glen

Design Wall Monday! What's on Yours??

Saturday was a great quilting day! I did a class with Beth J. called Patch No Work. She has inspired a number of quilts in this pattern and she had multiple requests to do more. So she set up a class. I have been admiring her quilts for a long time, and hoping to one day get to make one.

There was about twenty of us and everyone had a different fabric set. I loved seeing all the different ways you could do the same pattern. It was very inspirational.



Beth has a great eye for color and fabric and I am pretty sure she probably helped each of us pick out our fabrics. You needed 11 fabrics for the quilt. I was afraid of making the choices and she really made it look easy.

Here is the corner of mine, mostly put together. I LOVE the fabrics! I just can't keep my eyes off it!

To see what is on other Design Walls this Monday visit Judy's blog at http://www.patchworktimes.com/

glen: wishing I had Beth's eye for color! Maybe she will be my new best friend......

Spring is here and so are the squirrels!

The squirrels have been really going after the bird feeder. They gorge themselves and leave little for the birds. Three, I counted three of them this morning! They totally try to mess with me too.  They look in the window and smile while they munch down on the bird seeds.

And we have some beautiful birds that have been coming.  There are mourning doves, flycatchers, chickadees, wrens, bright red cardinals, bluejays, nuthatches, and sparrows. There are a few I can't find in the books.

So I set out to find the perfect bird feeder that the squirrels cannot eat from. At the LSU Horticultural Show yesterday, I did find one. So the birds need to figure out that a new feeder is there.

But in the meantime, I have enjoyed watching the squirels fail. They jump on the feeder and slide off the dome around the perches. Then they lean over from the tree branch and try to lift the lid. I guess they get frustrated because then they get on the lid and try to lift it! They are foiled every time!

This is a good feeder!

Cali the Cat is happy for Spring, she can go out and sun again. And wait for lizards to get foolish and try to cross the patio.

And Chloe the Smelly Basset hates that her beloved pinecones are not falling from the trees anymore. She has quite a stash in the yard though, but not enough to keep her all summer!

Dutch the Swissy is just content to lie in the sun a bit each day and be in the quilt room with me. And if I happen to feel like sharing my snacks with him, his is totally happy!

glen

What Is On The Design Wall Monday March 22 2010

My design wall is auditioning backgrounds for the Outhouse blocks. I won these silly blocks in a monthly lotto challenge from my Cyberguild online. They are fun fun fun, but difficult to work on. I need about three more, or some really innovative sashing blocks. AUGHHHHH!

I can only think of BLACK. So that is why it is staying on my design wall....so I can mull over my choices.

And it would be wonderful to get other thoughts maybe??????

glen/QuiltSwissy

PS -- It doesn't look as bad in the picture as it is on my design wall....so that makes me feel better already! LOL

Major accomplishment today!

LOL. I didn't realize that was going to be a play on words there. I have completed Garret Hubbard's Swissy Quilt of Valor to comemmorate Garret's promotion to Major in the Marine Corp. So that is a MAJOR accomplishment!

And I also completed the Quilt for the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog National Specialty Silent Auction. Bright Bright Bright! I had a leftover block from something that had a paper pieced dog's head and it was perfect to recycle into the label.

You can click on the photos for a very close look. Or at least I can, I am still trying to understand this posting thing.

Frustration

I have been trying to add some things to this blog and it has been a frustrating experience! I want to put my dog pictures scrolling on the side of the page but I can't get it to link at all.

Aughhhh!

I may just find another blog place. Before all the people start flooding in and friending me! LOL.

For the two people who actually read this, rest assured it will not be soon!

glen

String placemats!

since the computer is giving me fits I will post this tonight and continue to talk to you tomorrow!

http://www.thisgardenisillegal.com/flower-quizwhat kind of flower are you?

This is the blog from a master gardener friend of mine in Hammond.I am a sunflower. Sunny and bright, bringing a smile to your face! Do you think that is really me?

Today I was anything but sunny and bright. AT&T is giving me fits trying to getback the $111.78 I overpaid (because they wouldn't change the address on MYaccount for my mother's cell phone I was trying to cancel.) They won't give me my money!

Aughhhhh! I hope I said sunny and bright things to that lady from AT&T!

glen

Three New String Pouches

Not sure what to call them but here are three new string pouches. The scraps come from the quilt I am sending to the Silent Auction for the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America National Specialty. The Silent Auction raises money for the National Specialty which is in Springfield IL this year. Next year Southbound (a Regional Club) will host it in Perry GA. I know this because I am on the board of Southbound!

glen

At the Zoo

Reminds me of the Simon & Garfunkle song......the zebras are reactionaries.....

Been wanting to show Valerie the zoo so we rode out and saw the zoo in the early spring mode. The day was perfect and the crowds were non-existent. Lots of animals were still slowly waking up, like the tortoises and alligators. The pelicans are gone, and the cranes were out delivering babies.

We rode the train with a couple dozen kids; and I bought Frank a hat for his birthday present.

The funniest thing happened to Valerie Or at least I had a great laugh... not sure that she was laughing though. There is a water fountain that is a huge piece of granite etched like the globe turning on upsprayed water. Valerie says, you can change the direction of the rotation by turning the globe, watch!

Next thing I know she is flying across the pavement crashing into a sprawled heap in front of a group of women pushing kids in baby carriages. She just lays there for a second, looking like.......wha' happened????

For a change it wasn't me on the ground!

But I busted my gut laughing at her!

glen

Off To PetsMart

Went to sit with Janet this morning at the Neuromedical Center where she is in rehab following a stroke during surgery to repair an aneurysm. Whew. She is doing well, frustrated because her communication level is not what she wants it to be. However her walking and balance is improving quickly.

While I was there, she was sleeping so I got three sides of the GSMDCA Auction Quilt bound. I am going to see if I can con Valerie into doing the rest of it and Garret's Swissy Quilt. yes, that is what I will do......I must find some great incentive to get her to do it.

Chloe the Smelly Basset needed to have her talons manicured so off we went this afternoon to Petsmart. Dutch came along for the ride, since it is different having only one dog to leave at home. He was mostly uncomfortable, but he did like to see the rats and the birds in their little low cages. Too bad they didn't have ferrets for him to look at!

Chloe was not happy about her toes getting chopped off, but she doesn't hold a grudge! Dutch and I walked around and sniffed the toys and the dog food and the cat food and the beds. He was just drinking it all in. I need to begin to take him more places. He does so enjoy a good ride!

glen

Dog Quilts for Raffle and Silent Auction

I'll save the title for later when I see where this post is going.

I have been working on some contemporary quilts. Something different for me, but fulfilling my burning desire to get away from traditional. I look at blogs like Tallgrass Prairie and drool.

Here is my offering for the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog National Specialty Silent Auction, I had to go to the fabric store to hunt for a backing and I think I came up with a pretty good choice. Dark like the front, but circles rather than squares. It is titled Mardi Gras Dogs, but Kathy may change it. I gave her that option. I sent her pictures this morning and have not heard from her yet, I hope that is a good sign..............

I used up the leftover scraps making some zipper bags which I will send to both Southbound and GSMDCA for their respective raffles. I still need to put the label on the back of Southbound's Dog House Quilt. Why can't I get to that????

Sigh.........

Mysteries, Life and Kid

I am working on the Mystery Quilt I am presenting for the River City Guild. I just completed the second installment......of one of the quilts. For some reason I decided to do TWO of them. Not in my right mind on that one I guess. Two, what was I thinking???

I need to stay a step ahead of the quilt members who are doing this mystery. Last count there was about 35 of them doing the Mystery Quilt. That is a great thing. A lot of interest makes it fun to lead. So I just completed Step 2 and now need to do Step 3 before the next meeting. It is a very repetitive step and it is driving me crazy!

Frank and I visited Lisa and Janet at OLOL Hospital. They are both in Intensive Care because of a brain aneurysm. Janet had a stroke during surgery but Lisa's burst before it was found. They both are beginning to improve and Janet is ready to go to a regular room. Lisa is a few days away from that. Both ladies have an outpouring of love and support from many friends and family.

And then we spent the afternoon at the Celebration of Andy Leavy's life. An amazing man, he was. From England, he met Pam here in Baton Rouge. Pam already had a handicapped daughter but he fell in love with them both. Together they rescued countless numbers of animals from the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans. They spent over 3 years bringing food to feeding stations in the heavily damaged 9th Ward in New Orleans. They spearheaded LSART, Louisiana State Animal Rescue Team, the rescue organization as an outcropping of FEMA designed to move animals out of the way of disasters before they hit. They got to put that into practice in 2008 during Gustav as it hit Baton Rouge.

He and Pam testified in Washington about the need for a SART in every state. They both have made the lives of thrown away animals better by being a force of change. Pam has lost a life partner. And the animals have lost a strong advocate.

Time and time again as people got up to talk about Andy, they recounted stories about his humor in dire situations, his love for Pam and the girls and his great love of animals.

Amazing man. Goodbye Andy. Your life was well spent here in this go round!

And while we were at the hospital visiting Lisa and Janet, Carrie came to our house to pick up the granddog we were baby sitting. While here, she raked the leaves from the back yard and cleaned out the winter debris from the back patio! Wow!

Yes, today was a mystery of quilts, life and the kid!

glen

Great news all around

I can see. And very well, at that. I walked into our bedroom Thursday night, turned on the light and was astounded. I asked Frank if he had replaced the lights with brighter ones, and he chuckled and said no, that I was just seeing them again!

So I have 20/30 in that surgery eye, and an X over my eyebrow that won't come off. they must have marked it with indelible ink! Eyesight is continuing to improve as the surgery swelling goes down.

And I visited two friends, both in SICU at the hospital. They both had aneurysms and both are now recovering well. Amazing that both of them had problems in the same week. Hm.....

That is the best news.

And this Sunday is Andy's Memorial. It promises to be a sad occasion. But his life made such a positive impact on the world of animal rescue. He did so much, he must have known it would only be a short while he would be doing it. He was an amazing man.

Cataracts!

I will be having cataract surgery in the morning. It will be a good thing, because when they did the other eye four years ago, it is now 20/20!

So I may be out if it for a day or two while I sit and get waited upon by the Mister.
I wonder how long that will last?

I am young for cataracts, but now I can at least say that I am over it. My friends still have that to look forward to in the future.

I probably won't sleet tonight as usual, but I hope to get some good sleep tomorrow!

glen: seeing you better tomorrow!

What's on your design wall Monday

My design wall contains a puzzler. It is the first round of my Round Robin for the Sassi Strippers. And I got a toughie for the first one. The flowers and water fall were what she wanted for her center. The center had to be 12 x 18. And I also said they could put in fabrics they wanted included in the quilt. We are able to add our own as well.

So I got the center and those two colors hanging slightly away from it. I don't see it. But then I am really really bad with color. I need lots of help picking out my fabrics.

I saw this beautiful blueish teal and the bamboo looking batik. So I am trying to figure out how to make it work. I think I need to go buy some extra of the blue and bamboo teal and put that in her box for the rest of the peoples.