Mom Doing Better

I am happy to report that I was able to take Mom home from the hospital after the internal bleeding stopped and none of the tests could find a cause for it. After doing a pelvic cat scan to check the kidneys and colon, her bones looked so bad that the doctors were concerned that she had bone cancer, but further checking found no cancer, just severe Osteoporosis. She now takes a medicine for that that is sprayed into her nostrils and we have to get her a foam egg crate mattress and chair pads to protect her fragile bones.

Mom with her sisters, Rachel and Emmy in around 1937. Look at

those jodphers and boots, just like Hollywood!

She was able to go on an outing to the Florence Senior Center dance with staff and residents of her home, where she enjoyed the live music and even made a sweep of half the dance floor before her legs wore out. When younger, she and Dad went dancing every Saturday evening and were quite good at it.

Here are a couple of photos of a younger Mom that I found in my family archives. I wish I had a photo of them dancing.

Prayers for My Mom, Please

I haven't been able to think about quiltmaking for a couple of weeks due to running Mom to doctors and for tests. Finally, today I had to take her to the ER and she was admitted to the hospital and had a cat scan and an endoscopy to check her kidneys, lower abdomen, and stomach. We now know that she has no kidney stones or kidney tumors, and her ulcers are not bleeding, but we still don't know why she is in such pain, is losing weight (she is so tiny she has no weight to lose, unlike her daughter) and is having black blood in her stools. She will probably have a colonoscopy tomorrow, but if she needs surgery, the doctor doesn't know if she can survive it. She is so weak she had a fall a few days ago.

Here is a cute photo of her as a girl and a recent one to show that she is still cute. She always wants to dress just so, with jewelry and nail polish and looks like a little doll. She is frail but has a very big and tough heart.

Where Did January Go?

During the dark, short, windy, days of January I did very little quiltmaking. The obsessive, compulsive Granny finally got around to sorting and organizing my bedroom/sewing studio, and office. There was so much stuff piled everywhere that it made me tired just living with it, and I sure don't want my kids to have to do something with this mess when I'm no longer able, so I have sorted, boxed, thrown away, and hauled trunk loads to Goodwill.

Some of the business files in storage boxes were old enough to be thrown in the dumpster(they took up a lot of space) and previous year files have been put into plastic tubs that can be stored in the backyard storage shed, until they can be disposed of in future years; multitudes of books have gone to Goodwill for someone else to enjoy [it is so hard for me to give away books but too much is too much], and many trashbags of clothing, that I no longer wear, have gone to the thrift shop. I even sorted out a lot of old fabrics, from my Mom's sewing days, that I probably won't use for quilts [hopefully some lady out there will be overjoyed to discover them].

A very large portion of boxes that were taking up needed space consisted of memorabilia from Joe's family. I actually found more photos, more than 100 years old, that I don't remember ever seeing before. Some of these were scanned for use in family history books and most of the photos and small pieces like funeral cards, wedding and baby announcements [individual, not in the same envelopes], and graduation invitations will be placed in more albums. Joe's mom, fraternal grandmother and great-grandmother were all savers of these family momentos and I am fortunate in finding tons [I've always exaggerated] of material for the family histories, after sorting thru tons [doesn't seem like exaggeration, it has taken me 20 years] of junk to find the treasures.

And then, of course, as I find more old family photos I am drawn to Adam Dell (my computer) to do more genealogical research, and when I get started making finds I am drawn to spend more and more time researching. It must be similar to the way those old prospectors with their burros felt, but instead of a burro I have Adam to accompany my travels. Joe and I are planning to take a trip to Harlen County, Nebraska this spring to search out distant cousins, old homes, and headstones in tiny cemetaries in small farming towns. If any Vansyocs, Perkins, Ransdells, Burkes, or Clausens from that area read this, please e-mail me.

I've also finished tops for crib quilts for the two new great-grandsons which I now will send to a machine quilter, since I've determined that I enjoy making the quiltops, but not quilting them. In addition I have made a resolution to get my WIPs (UFOs?) quilted because I am not able to rest easily with them calling and sobbing from their storage places (in my bedroom). I also have some ideas rolling around in my mind for new pieces, but I feel guilty to start them with so many WIPS (um UFOs).

Quilt tops from top to bottom:

GGS Brendan's "Water Creatures"

GGS Adam's "Noah's Ark"

GS Alex's "Nine Patch Animals"

GS Shaun's "Mythical Horses"

Daughter Michal Ann's "Waterlilies Bargello"

Mom Evy's "Family Album"