Saturday, November 9, 2013

Sat. afternoon checking in at beach

Thought you would be interested to know my Proton Radiation treatments finished yesterday.  Had a little "meltdown" -- emotionally, not the machine, about 1/2 way through.  They had a nurse give me an Ativan to calm me down , wait 20 min. for it to work, and then we were able to finish.  
I was trying to push down on the foot rest to help me sit up straighter, then my thighs started shaking and I couldn't control it.    We missed the phone call from the Mayo Clinic Dr. as DH was pumping gas at the time, so will call him on Monday to make the follow up appt. for a "results talk"    The eye is still red and irritated, but I'm doing  artificial tears  ointment  given me by the Proton Dr.
He must be excellent, because at the end of January he is going to Switzerland to run --or at least work at-- their Proton Beam center.  At first I thought he was just going for a seminar, but he said no, he was going to stay, and was concerned about his bald head being cold.
So,  quilt wise I spent 3 hrs. this morning with the guild ladies working on red, white, and blue quilt tops.  I took a panel that I bought and asked for ideas.   I was just going to surround it with 2 and 1/2 strips, but someone there suggested  8 in. squares, then a strip or 2 then more squares to make it larger.   I bought the panel at our shop hop back in January, had lots of the right colors, and thought I want to be an active quilter in society, not a hoarder of fabric. There are 100 Navy men & women returning Dec. 6th to the local Navy place, and so far there are only 55 or so quilts.  Our guild president is married to a retired Navy Psychologist and the local guilds have been asked to step in and help.   I doubt that mine will be done in time, but can still give it to QOV at some time.
I didn't realize how emotionally traumatic these treatments were going to be.  Whew!  Turned 65 in the middle of everything and didn't feel like celebrating anything, just napping on the couch with dogs.  So, 2 couple are taking us out for shrimp dinner tonight at a beachy place for a delayed Birthday celebration.
Sara in Florida
 
 

Thursday, November 7, 2013

from Mary Jo

We are cold here in Idaho. Weather changed in two weeks from 70s to 50s with heavy frosts. There's lots of cloud cover and a bit of fog with snow threatened. Since we are usually south by now, we are really cold! Went out this week for new winter coats, gloves and scarves. We plan to drive to AZ in January to put that house on the market. Am letting furniture, dishes, linens...go with. Much easier that way. Will bring home the two new chairs and Christmas. Took care of 3/4 of the quilt room last spring. Can mail anything else that doesn't fit in the van. Health is the reason for the above change. It is frightening to drive 2 of the 3 days in very rural areas where emergency help would take a long time should John need it. He is fading but doing ok for 88. I had radiation in June, a hip replaced in July, pancreatitis in August and September, surgery to correct that in October and am recovering! $10,000 worth of dental work resulted from last years radiation. Radiation causes the same kind of damage as meth. My doctor said to stay away from surgeons and take 3 months to get well. Am planning to follow his advice very carefully. Did no quilting or gardening over the summer, planted and let it go. Without hand watering, things did not flourish. DD was an amazing help, coming for extended stays 3x. Gardening is not her thing. DH still raves at how much she can accomplish; she is a wonder. And, I am very thankful for her. Am focused on finishing UFOs that can become Christmas gifts. They range from needing borders and quilting to only needing a label or binding. It is fun to whip thru the stack. I counted 50 stored upstairs plus a dozen in use downstairs. Decided it was time to give more. I've been looking for coral and found it in a poppy print for a spring project. That will become the border of a long, skinny quilt for the end of the guest room bed. The poppies have gray stems and some gray writing on white background. A coral and 3 grays will become wild geese for the body of the quilt. It will be mostly white with a little coral and more gray. This is the first time I've bought everything needed to make a quilt. Fun. Spent today shopping for two little girls (5 - 6 years) for Christmas. Our church adopts 2000+ children in four local schools with the highest poverty. Each box contains sox, mittens, hats, toothbrush, toothpaste and school supplies. We add candies, toys and such to that to fill a boot box. I'm thinking undies might be nice. The poorest kids seem to lack there. Maybe a McDonald's gift card, too. My grands are teens and older so this is fun. Wishing you warm weather, or warmer than here. Blessings, MaryJo

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Bushfires


First, to those who asked, and thanks for doing so, there were 2 old friends from this page who live in the vicinity of the bushfires in NSW.  We tried to get in touch with them both but then realised they were both away on holiday.  One lives in Sydney and was fine; the other on the Central Coast and was also fine but at least one of the couples they were travelling with lost their house and had to return early to deal with the catastrophe.  She had stories of others (relations of friends) who were also dealing with the heartache of losing their homes.  It looks like a long, hot summer to come here.  We live on the edge of the desert ourselves, but even then a fire was started in the scrub between us and the next town 75 km away, by the army testing their weaponry, one of three started that way in the country about that time.  

Sorry I hadn't gotten on to let you know before - I have trouble with this site quite often.

BEE - That is wonderful news that the house sold so quickly. I was wondering where the cottage was.  I hope we're on your bucket list. vbg  I didn't realise you still have Guy Fawkes night.  It was banned here decades ago.  Poor Gus!

SARA:  Don't often hear of eyes and melanoma together - I too would be needing a sedative if they looked at my eyes.  All the best with your treatment.  Sending HUGS.

We are driving to Adelaide (No 9 on Lonely Planet's Top 10 Cities 2014 - had to put in that plug for my birthplace lol), then Melbourne to visit the boys at the end of the month.  I have one quilt top to finish sewing then quilt for step g.daughter's birthday and another one to quilt for a new grand niece.  Thankfully there's not much else on my list of 'to do' things for the next couple of weeks, and they will be ready to take with us.

 Off to start the day,
Fran 


I hate them

fireworks I mean. We still have Guy Fawkes here and as we have a park just at the back of our house THey are going for about 5 days. Poor GUS he is drugged and not in his right mind or what passes for it. I spend the nights sitting in the middle bedroom by the computer with Gus who is covered by a blanket and trying to climb under my chair. WONDERFUL WAY TO SPEND AN EVENING. I also am reminded of the blasts during WW2, long ago I know, but still makes me shudder. We lived by the river THames and the guns were at the back of our garden, always knew when a raid was going to start and used to worry about my father who was at our hospital at night. Now to the good news I have sold my house and am moving to a cottage in my son's garden,no more lawns to cut, no more gardens to worry about only my size ones, the rent is baking !!!!! This has been talked about for ages but I didn't want to move but now I need to do so much work here and don't have enough money to finish it so away I go . My bucket list is becoming longer day by day. Fran, digging for bones???? It is wonderful to be able to wake up and not have to worry about the house. Sara keep it up you are on the home run now and things will get better. Hugs to all Bee who is jumping up and down with glee, well sort of.