Category Archives: family

Sep14

This is September?

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The thermometer already reads 86 and expected to go up to at least 92 which will feel like 100. I think I’ll stay inside and do something quiet as my sinuses around my eyes are complaining.

My mom is seeing a little more each day, though she can’t watch tv. The anesthesia made her act a bit funny (feeling sorry for herself), but she is better today.

I’ve been working on a 18″x20″ canvas that I recycled. I’m giving it to my mom for her birthday. I’m almost finished, just trying to figure out if the top needs more. It’s a collage, with some things that reminds me of her. This lady, from the cover of a catalog, inspired me. I learned my lesson-that this particular paper is so thin and wrinkles or tears like crazy. I should have mounted it on card stock first.

I’ll show you the rest on the 23rd, which in my mom’s 78th birthday.

Brian’s dad is getting help in his house 3 days a week now. He is having a nurse dress his wounds and hopefully help him with other things. He hasn’t slept well for nights on end and is so disheartened. You get to be 85 and stuff like this happens to you. Also, Bri’s aunt has been there a few times now. I knew she would step up as that’s the kind of person she is. We appreciate it so much!

I’m keeping the people in Texas and Louisiana in my thoughts and prayers.

Sep12

Show & Tell #9

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I thought I’d share the talent of my mom’s only sibling, my Uncle Don. He is 85 yrs young, a prostate cancer survivor and former music teacher (and coordinator), for an entire school district near Philadelphia. As you can see, he loves birds and painted the Bluejay and carved the Cardinal and Purple Finch for me. The one piece is as old as my son (almost 22) and I should give it to him someday.

Uncle Don has had a rough few years and lives by himself, though his wife is still with us, but in a nursing home. He has a hard time getting around now and can’t drive or do much of anything except worry about his sister. I think she keeps him going sometime. : )

Sep8

I have Scrambilitis!

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I had one of those nights where I was looking at the clock every hour and getting up. I couldn’t figure out if it was something I ate or drank-I did have that McD’s sweet tea earlier in the day and green tea for dinner. Then it dawned on me that I sat on the floor after dinner for about 45 minutes sorting out my paper goods. I can’t do this anymore, I did it anyway and I’m sure that’s why I felt funky-that and PMS. And it doesn’t get better as you get closer to 50, it gets really strange and you wonder what is inhabited in your body sometime. Anyway, all night, thanks to Facebook’s Scramble (I have a word IQ of between 99 and 101) I was doing words in my head-ten-tent-taint-faint far-fare….you get the picture. Ugha! That was awful. So I couldn’t turn my brain off. Maybe walking around the Mushroom Festival would have helped, but I decided not to go.

I’m thinking a lot about my mom and FIL too. Mom’s a little snippy. I was coming down tomorrow so Colleen can do my hair, but my brother’s friend lost his mom last week and they are going to the funeral. (the lady felt like she had heartburn for 3 days, but she also weighed over 250, but none the less, that is scary stuff). I said to mom that while she was having her eye surgery, I’d run to get my hair done first. She’s only 5 miles away at the hospital and she said she’ll be there 3-4 hours anyway from 9:30 (when the surgery is suppose to take place). I know they are never on time from my experience with the biopsy last November. So mom said I’d have to call the short procedure to see if she was ready to go home, in a snippy way. I think it will work out.

Not sure what I’m doing today-need to wake up!

Here’s what I did on Saturday, inside during all the rain:

I added some fall garland, leaf candles and some aluminum pieces I had. My mom gave me the little Holly Hobbie recently. I also had bought the candle in front of the mantel clock and was trying to figure out where it would look nice. I love those mosaic pieces I found on deep discount at Value City a few years ago. There’s a string of 5 flickering lanterns that don’t show up well here.

Thanks for everyone who offered help with chosing a tv. It sure isn’t an easy task!

And Jennifer and whoever may have signed up for the J. Holdsworthy meeting at the SS, I signed up too! Yeah!

Sep7

TV went poof!

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Yes, it’s true! The picture tube (it’s over 10 yrs old I believe), has been going. We had it fixed a few years ago too. There were lines running across the top of the screen for months. Just a few days ago, the lines were creeping into the people on the tv. Very annoying. What Bri thinks went is the switch. We heard a noise and then there was an electrical smell-phew! The tv is now out on the back patio waiting for disposal. We are using Sean’s 20″-we are use to the 27″. My question-we want to get a flat screen now (I think that’s mainly what are sold) and can anyone suggest a brand that you own and works well that doesn’t cost a fortune? (like under $600?) Bri thinks that Walmart makes won’t be any good. And there is a definition factor too. I believe that the ‘big electronics’ companies sells to Walmart under a less known name, just like the food companies do in the grocery stores. Secretly I’ve been wanting a new tv for a few years. ; )

The annual Mushroom Festival is in full swing today after the torrential rain we had yesterday. Bri said that it was still on yesterday-hmmm. Wonder who ventured out in that? I may go up at the tail end of it, maybe around 4. That’s maybe. Not a big fan of crowds. It would be nice to get dinner up there though. Last year I wanted to see the chefs who were from the Bravo show ‘Top Chef’. This year the featured chef is a local guy.

Bri just took a huge bag of food over to his dad’s house. His dad still is very weak, maybe a smudgeon better. His sister-in-law wants to come over tomorrow to help with laundry, so he was up tiding the bathrooms. He’s not eating well at all. This is very stressful for Bri and that rubs off on me. I’m going to call the hospital to see if they have a medical alert device (thanks to Tammy for mentioning this). My FIL leaves the house locked up like Fort Knox though. I guess he’ll have to take his chances during the day as my uncle does. Speaking of my uncle, he couldn’t get up out of his chair a few days ago, and it took three of his neighbors (all older men) to get him up. My mom says he is sitting too much and this was the proof of it. Geez-old guys!

Sep4

It ain’t easy

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We just got back from Bri’s dad’s house. Bri had to go over there twice today. His dad made an 8:15 doctor’s appt and Bri went with him and then went back to work. About 12:30, the phone rang here and ‘Pops’ had slipped off his bed and tried for ½ hour to get himself up to no avail. Bri came home to get his dad’s house keys and grab a sandwich. When we got there, Bri had to literally scrap his dad up off the floor. We had to locate a place that rented walkers. We also bought him a cane. This is fine and dandy, but Bri can’t be running back and forth to his house which takes 45 minutes to one hour to get there. He’s got to swallow his pride and accept help. He’s going to make Bri sick.

Aug31

Lazy Day

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I truly had one of those days on Saturday that I didn’t feel guilty about. I took my time watching some shows on Bravo that I had missed because of the Democratic Convention. I stitched and frogged some stitching on the sleeping kitty. I wish when designers did the black symbols, that they would make them nice and dark when they print them out. I have been penciling out as I go, still lost my place. When I went to erase, took a lot of the symbol away. Grrrrgh.

I also made a really neat item for a Wizard of Oz swap with a fellow crafty blogger. I had all I wanted to use, plus some and just didn’t sit down to assemble it right away. When I finally did, it took about 15 minutes to get the main area done. As a hint, I am using a collage I made for my desktop and adding to that.

Found a really cute idea on Flickr. I love that site-so many talented photographers and craftspeople. A young lady, Ruby, turned ‘Mini pops’ into a cross stitched project. They are famous little people, say Indiana Jones, that are really tiny. She said she opened a gif file in her paint program to print out the figures and then graphed them.

I tried my hand at it today. Can you guess who these guys are?

They may be a little larger than Ruby’s, but these are the Fab Four from the movie ‘Sergeant Pepper’.

Bri’s dad isn’t doing well on a mega dose of antibiotics. I suggested that if he goes over to his house and doesn’t like what he sees, that he should take him to the ER pronto. Pops says he is weak on his legs and isn’t eating a lot. I think he should be in assisted living until he feels better, but Bri swears that comes out of pocket. Not if the doctor wants him in there, I think the insurance would help. Anyone know? He could maybe get a visiting nurse to help him with his wounds.

If Bri’s dad is ok, we may take a daytrip tomorrow. And if my shoulder is better too. Seems it acts up once in a while. Bri suggested I sit sideways on the massager and it hit an area on my shoulder blade that made it tingle and hurt.

Two answers from my movie meme from a little while ago:
#1 Life and death. Space and time. Fate and chance. Theses are the forces of the universe. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a man who has unlocked these mysteries. From the furthest corners of the world where the dark arts still hold sway he returns to us to demonstrate how nature’s laws may be bent. I give you ……. The Illusionist!

#6 A scout has a certain look… Kit Carson, for example. You look like… a muleskinner!
Uh, General I don’t know anything about mules…
Lieutenant, it’s amazing how I can guess the profession of a man just by looking at him! Notice the bandy legs, the powerful arms. This man has spent years with mules. Isn’t that right?
Uh, yes sir!
Hire the muleskinner! –Little Man, Big Man-you must see this movie. : )

I made a desktop collage of this movie a few years ago:

Also did Joy Luck Club and Memoirs of a Geisha:

And of course I couldn’t forget Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:


Aug30

Photo Hunt- Beautiful

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PSHunt
Great grandmother, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Beautiful can mean something pleasing to the eye or better yet, to the heart. I always loved this photo of my maternal grandmother, the little baby here. Both Ruth, my mom-mom and her mother Caroline lived to be in their 90s. The little girl, Ethel Grace, died from pneumonia at age 7. My great grandmom had 6 children and another daughter Edna, who also lived to be in her 90s. I love how my great grandmom looked so pleased to have these little girls as she had trouble conceiving when she was first married. They are beautiful to me.

And the winner of my 4th Anniversary Blog giveaway is….drumroll…

RO!!!! from A Hint of Home blog! Ro’s a new visitor, which is nice. Congrats! I need your snail mail address-send to diadsieatcomcastdotnet. Thanks. : )

Aug21

Adding insult to injury

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Today I am feeling that lighthouse climb even more. The front of my thighs hurt yesterday, but they are really complaining today. As is my back. Thank goodness for the heating pad, icy hot and massage pad! I went out last night and started to pull weeds. Then I was pulling grass out of the brick sidewalk. I even had Bri leaning over pulling grass out of it. Martha Stewart is pulling weeds (maybe), they are so bad this year. You can see why I’m so sore. It’s a good pain as I feel like I did something worthwhile. Sean bought me a weedwacker last year, but it’s so big, or I am so short (even after adjusting the handle part) I have trouble using it.

I will say the pond looks nice, despite the weeds. I have to get the fountain part to work again, more leaning over:

I have a few different kinds of water plants in there besides waterlilies (which didn’t bloom in either water container I have them in). I have water hyacinth and a Canna lily plus that plant that looks like little umbrellas. The waterfall has a piece of old tv glass in it.

Bri is with his dad today as he has a sore on his stomach that won’t heal-he’s at the wound center of the hospital over near where he lives. He was in the hospital about 4 yrs ago with one on his leg. Daddo is also having dental problems and can’t chew that well. It will take over a month for his bridge to be fixed. I think the time may be near for him to move into an assisted living place. He’s getting frail and I know he is probably lonesome. I bet he would be popular as he likes to tell jokes and talk about money. Bri would have to fix up the old homestead over there-like get a new roof and some cosmetic things. It’s in a nice area on the other side of Chester County.

Sean wants to go to Walmart soon and I need to get a few things too.

And thanks so much to Jennifer from Sweet Pea Stitches for this award:

I send it back to her:

I’m to pick 7 blogs altogether and tell the recipients they got the award.

Ok, this is difficult, but I pick:

Carole of Pea’s Corner

Barb of Mainely Stitching

Zoey of Perennial Passion

Lee of Lake Stitcher

Kelli of There is no place like home

Emily of The Floss Box.

Aug20

Atlantic City & attractions 2008

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Atlantic City & attractions 2008, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Here’s a mosaic from our trip-view the large one at the above link or go to the slideshow of the set here. Unfortunately, some of the photos were cut off a bit. Sunday-we basically just stayed around the hotel and went to the mall for dinner. Monday we went to the beach after having the hotel’s breakfast buffet. While we were on the beach, we heard the roar of planes coming very close, almost like one was going to crash in the ocean! Here is was the USAF Thunderbirds flying team practicing for their show today. It was neat at first, but after 45 minutes, it was a bit loud. That night we went to the outlet shops near by and bought a few clothes items (that’s basically all there was). Sean bought me a candle as he was getting a bit short with me about things. I couldn’t help it if ‘Aunt Flo’ decided to visit me during the trip. To prove that I could do it, I climbed the Absecon lighthouse as described below-ouch! The front of my thighs are complaining! After we left there, we headed to Margate where Lucy the Elephant is located. It’s over 100 years and a mascot for the area. You can go up in her, but I just couldn’t do the climbing again. We found a excellent deli (Downbeach) and we all loved what we had-mom said it was the best pastrami she has had for a long time. We decided to stop at Smithville, a quaint little shopping area on the way home. We hadn’t been there for a while, and it doesn’t change much. I bought a tiny hummingbird feeder from a store that sold all bird related things (that’s what they basically were-all Ireland, all angels, etc). to put in the window where my craft table is.

I haven’t felt that tired for a long time when we got home and it took me a few hours to fall asleep, but I stayed asleep for a solid 4-5 hours which is good for me. Mom or I haven’t done that kind of walking for ages. I’m really happy that she did so well in that aspect. Sleeping there was another story.

Oh, and Cosmo was glad to see us and not too stand-offish. He seems really tired, I guess he was pining after me!

Aug2

Friend hurt

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My mom and her boarder Jim went to the movies tonight. When they came home, he went back out in the dark to get something out of the car and fell down hard and injured his head and face very badly. They had to call ‘911’ and an ambulance came. My brother said there was a lot of blood on mom’s patio and some other graphic things about his injury that I won’t post, but he’ll need to be stitched up quite a bit. We don’t know if he lost teeth, etc. Earlier this year, my brother put in paver stepping stones and one was a bit loose. But he also lined them with biggish rocks on each side. I don’t know if this is where he went down, but there is insignificant light in that area. I was against the rocks from the first time I saw them and can not move them out of the way myself. Could you keep Jim in your thoughts and prayers? He is just short of 62 and is a good Christian man who almost died as a boy. He just helped Sean with a paper on the Vietnam era. We’ve know him for years and years, so we are all upset about him. I will probably go down to my hometown tomorrow.

Update 12:11 pm Sat-Jim had to have plastic surgery and had his nose reconstructed. He said the worst part was putting the needles in his nose. Not sure if he can come back to mom’s as she can’t take care of him properly. I didn’t go down as my #2 bro is helping mom out.

My older brother went to his friend’s funeral today. Bob requested that everyone wear a Hawaiian shirt, I guess he liked to wear them.