The last few days have been difficult.  On last Wednesday, my Mom could no longer get up out of her chair and was in severe pain in her back.  She was admitted to the hospital and we found she had torn ligaments in her back.  On Sunday she had emergency surgery.  She is 88 years old and this was quite an undertaking.  She came through the operation after 5 l/2 hours.  Yesterday she got the tubes out and is doing very well considering all she has been through.  Today they plan to get her up for the first time.  She has had to lie completely flat for 2 days.  I will be anxious to see how she does when PT comes to get her up.

I have been anxiously working on my Tour deMadison t-shirt quilt.  First cut out the design you want to use off the shirt.  Iron on interfacing to the back of the design. My friend made me a chart on paper of what size the squares should be and how wide the striping would be between each square. After you have cut all squares, decide what size square you will use and cut all squares to the same size.  I used 12 l/2 x 14 l/2 with a 2 l/4" stripe to divide each square.  I used l/4" on all seams.  After sewn together, the square were 12"x14" and the strip was 2".

You then need to cut your strips, I cut them 2 l/2" because you will use l/4" on each side to sew to the square.  I also cut 2 l/2" strips for the sides and top and bottom.

You will then start to sew your strips and square together.  I did 5 squares across.  Always be sure the square line up together.  Use the "nesting" method and lots of pins if necessary to help hold fabric in place.

I then sewed each strip of 5 together with a strip of fabric in the middle.  I had 4 rows down.

I was now ready to add my side and top and bottom strips.

All sewing has been done.  I will be sending this quilt to a lady who has a long-arm machine and she will quilt together the top, batting and back.  I hope to have the quilting design done in shapes of bicycles.  Once it is all finished, I will post pictures.

Wow, where has this week gone.  Started off with 3 or 4 inches of snow (again) on Monday.  Wednesday the temperature went up to 59.  Now we are back to the upper 40's.  It is spring time in Virginia.  This Monday we might see more wintry mix. 

One of my dolls and I went to our first mystery dinner at a local winery.  Mystery was set in Colonial times and the actors and actresses were great.  We had to decide who committed the murder and we able to ask questions to the cast.  This was to benefit our local fair which will be held in July.  Delicious food was served by a local Menonite family.  It consisted of fried chicken and pork loin with all the trimmings.  There were about 148 people in attendance, good time had by all.

Thursday night one of our associates and a dear friend of mine passed away.  On Wednesday he was getting in some firewood and fell.  He came to work on Thursday and said his rib cage was really hurting.  I asked him if he thought he had broken any ribs, but he said he didn't think so.  They were just sore and hurting.  He worked all day and went home in the afternoon.  After dinner and a shower, he sat down to watch TV.  His mother found him in the chair and he had died.

When he didn't come in on Friday morning, I called his home and asked if he had left for work.  His mother replied that he had died last night.  I was so shocked I really didn't know what to say.  No one had called to let us know.

This man could easily have won on any of the trivia shows on TV.  He would tell me daily more "stuff" than I could ever remember.  He loved the Washington Nationals and the Washington Redskins.  He could tell you who they traded and when and how much money was involved.  He was also a history buff and loved all aspects of previous wars.  PBS was has favorite TV channel.  Many days he told me to be sure to watch some special on PBS.

He was the mailman at our office.  You could count on him to always be willing to help you.  Always a good morning to everyone he met.  We plan to plant a tree in his memory and place a cat stepping stone beside it.  He loved his old cat Frank, who passed away several years ago.  He got a new kitten and named him Leonard, after the singer Leonard Skinner.

Everyone has had a kind word about him.  A very quiet man shall be missed by a great many people.  We were his family and we shall always keep him in our hearts.

Rest in peace, Chuck!!

 

 

 

 

 

This young man lost his second tooth.  Oh what a time we had getting this one pulled.  He and I had a knock down wrestling match on the floor and finally was able to convince him to come in the bathroom and let me try to pull it out.  I was able to get it a little looser  and by the time his Mom got here, she was able to pull it out.  I think the tooth fairy will be filing a Chapter 11.  This money should pay for all baby teeth that he will lose. 

 

 

When John & I got married 37 years ago we bought this wood cook stove.  We were married in an old pre-Civil War house and it had a chimney in the kitchen.  Over the years John built us several homes and we always designed the plans for the kitchen having a place for this cook stove.  Today the power was off for 6 hours, so I got some small wood and started a fire in this baby.  I had potato soup, bacon, and corn bread for lunch.  I wouldn't take anything for this stove.  Thank you John W. Knighting for always thinking ahead.  Love ya.!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well we finally got snow.  For several months the weather man has missed his predictions.  This time he hit it right.  I think we have over 12" and were out of electricity for 6 hours.  I am thankful to God it came by on before dark.  My Mom does not have back up heat, and I was concerned for her.  I have a wood stove and it heats my home nicely.