Busy week

There was more canning done this week and an inventory taken of non-electric appliances taken.  Seeing so many earthquakes, floods, volcanos and other natural disasters on the news had me thinking about what if it happened here.  Would I be prepared?  I wasn't getting into a panic about it but I did want to take stock of what I have and what I might need to start looking for on my shopping trips.  I like to think ahead. 

The news of higher food prices expected this year and next year also had me thinking about a better garden this year.  I'm not panicked about food either but a garden of my own would surely be a good investment.  I haven't planned anything or started making the garden yet because I'm waiting for the trees to be cut back.  I don't want branches to be falling on plants when the trees are trimmed.

This quilt was finished too.

It's Christmas themed fabric so I did lots of holly leaves.

More holly leaves along the border.

A simple wavy line on the inside border and another holly vine on the next inside border.

This time the holly leaves go out from the corners to meet in the middle.

A simple outline of the characters in the blocks.  A swag design around the centers and a ribbon on the fill in strips.  Then a loop design on the inside border.

Simple line dancing was done on the pieced blocks with a sort of flower in the centers.  I can't remember the name of the flower but design mimicks the flower in the fabric.

There was more clothing cut apart and stabilized for the two memory quilts.  These two quilts are to be traded in exchange for the branches being cut off the trees where my garden will be. 

I spent some time doing trapunto on the next quilt. 

I had a Ladybug show me that the nails on a rug frame make an excellent pretend piano for singing and dancing.

A lesson on making a paperclip rug was also a fun thing on a different day.  No, she didn't make the whole thing.  I was working on it while she played and then she wanted to learn too.  Five minutes of learning and she was ready to do something else.  A box makes a really great boat you know.

This coming week looks to be very busy too.  It's spring and spring means more sunsine.  Sunshine means outside activities and open windows for breezes while house cleaning.   Hmm.... maybe there will be time for a me quilt or two. 

Thank you

My sincere thanks to everyone for their comments.  I appreciate every one!  Mom is in the hospital for depression but will probably be going home in a few days.  It's become a regular routine for her now, this going to the hospital a few days before a holiday.  She gets depressed and violent toward others so she's sent to the hospital psych ward to calm down. 

I'm not much into the holiday spirit myself.  Well, hmm, maybe that's not quite what I mean.  I have made charity quilts for residents of the nursing home.  I have gotten all the Xmas gifts sent.  I gave money because everyone seems to need money these days.  I feel good that I'm not giving something that may be unwanted and wind up being returned or re gifted.  I think next year everyone should get a new quilt.  It's been a few years since they all got one.   Hmm... sounds like a goal to me.

I guess it just seems like I'm not in a holiday spirit because I'm not running in a dozen different directions to get stuff finished on time.  I'm not rushing to finish customer quilts by Xmas eve and at the same time not rushing to prepare foods either.  My daughter does the cooking now.  Everything is done which leaves sort of an empty feeling.  Like something is missing..... well DUH!.... what's missing is the rushing around trying to get a million things done.  I like it! 

Charity quilts done

The mice are gone.  I remembered an old time remedy for getting rid of mice and tried it.  Peppermint.  I wrote about it on my hints blog.  I'm not sure if the peppermint or the lye and peanut butter mixture got rid of them.  Either way, I'm sure glad they are gone.   Actually, it should be peppermint oil but this is all I had at the time.

The six charity quilts are finished. 

Made from clothing.

Quilted with the circle lord baptist fan template.

Just a little bigger than lap sized.

Should be good for sitting in a wheel chair.

Now I'll wash to soften them up and get them wrapped.

I've been writing some posts on my helpful hints blog about the STUFF in my life.  If you don't see a post on here for a few days, check over there.  The link is on my side bar or here.  I'm starting my 2011 organizing a little early and talking about how my house accumulates so much. 

 

The last 2010 quilt

This quilt is finished even though the owner gave me permission to not quilt it if I had other priorities.  I decided to go ahead and quilt it to call an end to the 2010 quilting schedule.  Now I'm all set to do the end of year paperwork with an empty slate for 2011. 

It's a dog theme quilt so I did paw prints on the outside border.  I did a swag design on the inside border to jazz it up a bit. 

I did dog biscuits on the setting triangles.

This person prefers minimal quilting on her quilts.  I did line dancing on the pieces and simple outline around the dogs of the solid squares.   I can always add more quilting but it's very hard to take away quilting if it's too much.

December 2nd would have been my son Derek's 47th birthday.  He committed suicide when he was 40.  I spent a good deal of time thinking of him on his day.   

I mentioned that I had mice (or maybe rats) in my house.  Living in a poorer section of the city means we get these critters regularly.  Every time there is a house torn down or set on fire the rats scatter to near by homes.  It always creeps me out!  It makes me feel like my house is filthy.  Also, lately I've been feeling like I'm a borderline hoarder.  Yes, as pointed out to me, I am a collector not a hoarder.  But I still feel as if my collecting could get totally out of control if I don't do something about it.

I'm also a clean cook.  I scrub and clean my kitchen counters every weekend.  I scrub and clean before I start cooking or preparing foods to be eaten the coming week.  Well, the past weekend as I started cleaning I found this behind the stuff on my kitchen counter.  Yikes!!  Double yikes!! 

This set me into a panic big time.  Immediately I felt dirty.  My house felt dirty.  Everything in sight felt dirty, including my quilting and craft stuff.  Right away I got out my cleaning supply stash and started scrubbing.  First with bleach, a second time with peroxide, and twice more with disinfectant soap.  I scrubbed cabinets, appliances, dishes, pot & pans, silverware, counters, floors..... everything in the kitchen except the refrigerator.  I'm going to clean it today.  I'm tired of take out foods. 

The kitchen still feels dirty even though I know it's not.  I went through a whole bottle of bleach, peroxide, and soap on the kitchen alone.  This weekend and in the next couple of weeks I'll be cleaning the studio, the bathroom, and everything else I can get done.  I hope all the mice (or rats) are dead.  I'll know their not if I find anymore traces left behind. 

Thankfully, my foods were in glass jars.  The jars got a good scrubbing and nothing will be stored on the counters anymore.   If there's nothing on the counter then the varmints can't hide there.  Inside the cabinets is a different matter.  The counter is where I prepare foods.   I want to know it's absolutely clean before I ever do any food preparation.

Well now that I've let you know the dirty side of my life, I'm also starting to work on the 6 charity quilts I want to finish by the 12th.  

What am I doing

Hmm.... cleaning out clutter and writing posts on my hints blog about it.  Also writing links for the link pages on the hints blog.  It's not easy to write links when my computer keeps clicking off the internet constantly.  It's such a hastle to get back on the internet every 5 or 10 minutes.  I gotta get a new mouse. 

I've been doing some cooking too.  I made Mounds candy bars with some recent discount bin finds.  I would have made Almond Joy but it's hard to make those without almonds.  These are a little messy looking but oh so good.

I've also been getting rid of mice (or baby rats).  If you look at the picture you might be able to see the one peeking out from behind the wall right below the water heater.  Yup, it's blurry because I was shaking after my encounter.  That's as close as I was going to get to take the photo.  It was bad enough these guys jumped out on the kitchen counter right when I was starting dinner a few days ago.  Very bold little dudes to help themselves to my dinner before I get it made.  Geeze!  I had to go change my underwear.  These guys wouldn't touch regular bait.  I had to resort to lye mixed with peanut butter and cooking grease.  I believe they are all gone for this year. 

Ladybug wanted to teach me to use a Ladybug (mouse) to play her computer game.  You move it like this Na Na.  Put the purple triangle on top of the blue triangle.

I helped her decorate their tree.

Then at my house I started teaching the art of dish washing.  We discovered water is fun with or without bubbles.

I have a quilt on the machine.  I'll get it quilted before Ladybug arrives today.  I hope to get 6 charity quilts done for some people at the nursing home where my mother lives.  These quilts are for people who don't have family.  I'm going to sign them as A. Nony Mouse as I've done in the past.  Gosh it feels so good to have time for charity instead of being stressed over deadlines. 

Before and after

I found a handyman that doesn't charge an arm and a leg for his work.  It's very hard to find a handyman that will work with me as my budget allows.  Most want to do everything at once instead of in small sections.  All done at once means lots of money but in sections means smaller amounts to come up with in my budget.  It only took me several years to find him.  This is what he did today.  The corner of the house before.

The corner of the house after.

Above the window before.

Above the window after.

The back of the house before.

The back of the house after.

He ran out of wood so he'll be back another day to do more repairs.  His truck is in the shop which meant he couldn't go to the hardware store.  He walked here from his house.  My house looks like it's ready for a coat of paint doesn't it?  Well he's going to do that for me too but in the spring when the weather is getting warmer not colder like now.  When he comes back in a few days he'll be working on other places on the outside that are rotting away.  What he is doing is closing up any outside areas that might let rain get into the walls which would cause even more damage. 

It almost feels like Christmas.  Hmm.... he sorta looks like Santa.  Almost white hair and beard but he's quite thin.  Having the repairs done looks so much better..... even without the paint.  100% better!

Window quilts

GRRRR!  Dang window quilts! I finally have the time to install the window quilts I made a few weeks back.  Yes, the same quilts I've tried to get made and put on my windows for a couple of years. These quilts are to replace window quilts I took down to wash and found had dry rotted.  I get out the new hardware I've saved for a long time.

I finish cutting the yardsticks I use for the inserts.

I go to install them and every gosh darned window quilt is exactly 10 inches too short!  All eleven quilts are short.  How did that happen?  I haven't a clue but it's a real DUH moment for me.  All that work and not a single window quilt is the right size.   So I cut some fabric and add it to the top of the window quilts and install them anyway.  See the extra fabric at the top of this one being installed?

Oh well, I did plan to make more window quilts later, in pretty colors, one at a time.  My plans haven't changed.  These window quilts will work for now because the idea is to cut my energy costs this winter.   It's just that I feel really dumb for making that kind of mistake.  Thankfully this was work for me and not quilts for a customer.  There is no telling how long it will be before I get new ones made again.  Making these plain window quilts has taken over two years because of my hectic schedule.  Well, I do have a lighter quilting schedule now that I'm semi-retired.  Maybe it won't take me as long to make prettier ones.  Two installed..... 9 more to go.

Feeling better

I'm finally up and better...... I think.  I've done nothing but sleep over the last three days.  I've gotten up only long enough to go to the bathroom, feed the furkid, take some medication, and drink some juice.  Oh, and warm a hot pad in the microwave for the horrible ear ache I've had.  I do everything I can to stay away from sick people but somehow sick people germs always find me. 

It seems the older I get, the harder it is to fight off a cold or infection.  Kind of like it was when I was a really young child.  I was constantly sick back then.  I caught everything.  Measles, mumps, chicken pox, rickets, rheumatic fever, whooping cough, ...... you name it, I had it.  My Grandmother told me when I was really young I was terrified of anyone wearing white.  White was what medical people wore back then.  Anyone wearing white gave painful shots or poked and prodded in places that hurt.... like ears, throats, and noses. 

My resistance changed and I was able to fight sickness off easier when I grew up.  Then years of working 16 hour days found me letting my health take a back seat.  I pushed myself and pushed myself.  Well, that's finally taking a toll on me.  When I decided to semi-retire from quilting full time it was because of health issues.  Several illnesses and several hospital visits were a wake up call.  It was time for me to care about me again.

This is the first serious bought with a cold I've had in quite awhile.  I think on next shopping day I'll stock up on some iron tablets.  Iron is what I took three times a day when I was a child.  It was awful tasting brown liquid back then.  Mixed with a little home made wine made it tolerable.  Thank goodness for modern technology creating pills to swallow. 

I'll do a little sewing today and watch the news.  I need to catch up on what is happening in the world. 

It never fails

I can always count on getting sick just at the time when I feel I should not be getting sick.  Hmm... is there ever a time when it's ok to be under the weather?  For the last couple of days I've been running a slight fever with itchy watery eyes and a scratchy throat.  It might be a cold.  It might be seasonal allergies.  It might be stress related.  It's just enough to keep me from working on schedule to finish the last of the xmas quilts.  I'm not going to force my body to keep working as I have in the past.  I'm going to be taking it easy and getting lots of rest for a couple of days. 

Giggle, giggle

Giggle, giggle, giggle......

Hee, hee, hee......

Giggle, giggle, giggle......

Snorting out loud laughing.....


After reading anonymous N's comment about my new toys, I couldn't stop laughing at the mental picture I got stuck in my head.  Heck, I'm still laughing so I thought I'd share the mental picture with everyone.  Just to let you see I'm not as stressed as I was before.  Life shows me the humor almost as often as it gives me stress. 


I had been wondering what I would knit as my first project on my knitting machine.  Now I know.  It will be colorful socks to go with my colorful bras when they are finished.  Her suggestion and I love it!

So here's the mental picture me.......

I have on bright red undies made from leftover t shirt fabric and there's handwritten words on the seat area.  The words are "O crap" scrawled with a permanent marker.  I have on a bra made of bright and wild cat fabric. 

My slacks are purple and baggy, in need of serious alterations.  About 3 sizes too big, also tall sized instead of petite like I am.  My shirt is a lemon colored T that I got from the fair.  I always manage to get my new shirt wardrobe at the fair every year from free give aways.  My T is a bit too small because the free give away was out of the larger sizes.  It hugs my chest that's suffering from the dreaded furniture disease.  You know.... the disease where my chest is falling into my drawers.

I have on an apron I made from an old stained white hand towel.  It has a wild blue fabric tie string. 

 My long hair is in a bun on top of my head with a nail stuck through to hold it there.   My glasses rest on my forehead like a nutty professor.

On my feet are my fuzzy orange flip flops and I'm wearing some newly knitted socks.  One sock is a pink and mustard yellow striped made of wool yarn.  On the other foot has an orange with green diamonds sock made from acrylic yarn. 

I'm walking along the pathways I've made for myself in my hoarder house, dodging spiders and mice, looking for the items I need for my current crafting idea.

Now do you see why I'm giggling out loud?  What a mental picture you gave me N.  Good thing I don't care what colors are on my body.  Color is only important to me in my quilts.  Enjoying life is soooo much more important than worrying about what covers my body or how disorderly the house becomes. 

Thank you N for a good laugh at myself.

I am not alone

Thank you everyone for being my friends.  The comments were comforting an much appreciated.

I did accomplish a lot of things yesterday.  I took a few minutes to think through a plan then got started.  I put away the new toys.   Well not exactly put away.  I put them in the corner of my studio for now.  I hope to clear out one of the unused bedrooms to be used only for crafts.  Not my quilting studio, another room. 

Instead of trying to clean and organize to kill spiders I decided to take the easy route and just spray a killer around the house.  I did like an exterminator would do.  I moved things only enough to spray in dark recesses.  Maybe by the time I get around to actual cleaning and sorting in a couple of months the spiders will all be dead.  I plan to spray again every week until then.  I put mouse killer around the house too.  In places where small people and furkids can't get to it.  Luckily I had a supply of it here already. 

Supper was take out pizza.  I knew Ladybug would be here and she loves pizza.    I even got in an hour of quilting before bedtime.

I called the state nursing home ombudsman about the situation with my mother.  He gave me some really good suggestions.  It seems the nursing home can't simply evict her.  They MUST work with me to find alternative placement.  It's the same as it would be if she has a state appointed guardian.  State appointed guardians are not required to take a person into their home just because the nursing home doesn't want to deal with them anymore.  The ombudsman told me about a mental patient nursing home in Glasgow, KY. 

I did an internet search on it.  There is an old hospital there that has been converted to a nursing home.  One of my sons lives in Glasgow and another one lives just a few miles away in another town.  If for any reason I needed to go see mom and stay overnight I'm sure I could stay with one of them.  It would be really nice to spend time with my sons and the grands.   If mom can be placed there then she wouldn't have to go out of state.

Yesterday I realized the nursing home is now going through what I went through just before mom was placed where she is.  The police, fire, sheriff, etc would send her to the hospital because of her behavior.  The hospital would spend a few minutes with her then send her home.  Even a mental inquest didn't hold mom in a hospital.  Often she would be back home from the hospital before I was AND I started toward home the minute she was on her way TO the hospital. 

Mom is very practiced at knowing exactly what to say to what person to get her way.  She's had probably 65 years of practice at manipulating the system.  She might be screaming and acting up toward one person then do a complete turn around to being sweet and quiet to another person a couple of seconds later.   Mom is sneaky, manipulative, and extremely practiced at it.  A normal person that wants to be nice to her will often become the target of her manipulation.  Even the staff of Seven County Mental Health Services, who are trained to deal with mental patients, would often become frustrated with her ways and call me to deal with her. 

Mom will be sweet and nice to the point a person starts trusting her.  That's what she wants because the person lets their guard down.  Her next move is to get the person very confused.  Then she lets them have it with all she's got in verbal manipulation.  The person will back down because they don't know what's happening or how to deal with it.  I've dealt with her my whole life and even I fall victim to her mind games over and over again.  It takes me a couple of days to realize what is happening. 

Mom believes she can live on her own again.  She wants out of the nursing home.  She's going to do anything and everything it takes to get people very frustrated dealing with her.  Just like I said yesterday, sometimes I wish they would open the door and let her go..... that's what she wants to happen.  She's trying to get everyone frustrated dealing with her so eventually they want to get rid of her.  She just doesn't know it won't work this time. 

I'm going to call the nursing home director today and explain what I believe Mom is trying to do.  I'm going to suggest they use privileges to control her.  Good behavior gets good privileges.  Bad behavior and there will be consequences of privileges taken away.  It may not work but certainly worth a try.  It may come down to a locked gate on her door so she is confined to her room.  She can see over the gate but can't get out.  Hmm.... are they allowed to do that anymore?  I'll have to ask.  The idea is to be like a time out chair is for children.  When she acts up she gets time out. 

I giggle sometimes at the things mom will do or say.  For example, yesterday mom called to tell me she "made sheriff" finally.  Yes, I answered the phone because I wanted to tell her to behave herself.  I have to interpret what she's talking about.  I say that's great, tell me about it.  After a few minutes conversation I realize it was her way of telling me she had hit another patient and it felt good to her.  The act of hitting someone is not good but her explanation of being a sheriff was funny.  In her mind she felt hitting the other patient was an act of protecting someone like a sheriff would do.  Who she thought she was protecting is beyond me.  At the same time it's a part of her manipulation to get everyone frustrated with her.

Keeping just ahead mom could be a full time job for me if I let it happen.  I need to be aware constantly or else I get manipulated.  I need to be mentally alert to her ways.  Sort of like.... hmm..... like living in a high crime neighborhood.  There is always a possibility of danger without knowing where, when, how, or if it will happen.  I can't be constantly worrying about what might happen in my neighborhood any more than I can constantly be worrying what mom might do next.  That's why I let the professionals deal with her.  Giggle, even the professionals fall for the manipulation.  I am not alone.

Stop the world, I want to get off!

I've been on a wild roller coaster ride of life the last couple of days.  I've decided, I really want to get off this crazy thing and have a slower, less hectic life.   You ever play those "I wish" and "If only" games?  You know those games when you keep saying "I wish I had this (or that) and my life would be much nicer" or "If only I could do this (or that) my life would be happier" kind of games. 

Several months ago I wished I could get another serger to replace the one I had given to a Hurricane Katrina survivor so she could earn a living again.  I was reading Dora's blog a few days ago about her new old treadle machine.  I was happy for Dora but envious too because I've been wishing I owned a treadle machine for a number of years.  My grandmother has been on my mind a lot lately.  I especially remember the two of us sewing quilts using the treadle machine.  Being with my grandmother is the happiest of my childhood memories.  I had also been wishing for a knitting machine.  I have a couple of other wishes like a spinning wheel and a harness loom too.  Yeah.... like I'm ever gonna have any of the wishes come true.   

Hmm.... I've gotten off track haven't I?  I was telling you how I wanted the roller coaster world to stop so I could get off. 

Ok, it started innocently enough.  I had some appointments to take care of on Thursday.  Not a problem for those.  No problem getting there or getting home except I left some important papers at home.  The judge did grant me the request for no more $10,000 insurance bond because my mother doesn't have anything.  No property and no money.  It was silly to require me to carry insurance when there is nothing to insure.  I was on a high of happiness after court.

Friday more appointments.  These were at home appointments for estimates on getting repairs done to the outside of my house.  On the high end $20,000 and on the low end $14,500.  Oh my! I start feeling really down.  How am I gonna get that kind of money?  Would I even want to put that much money into a house only worth $6,000 with a mortgage still owed of $12,000?  My son has told me to just walk away and let the mortgage company have it.  But son, where would I go?  I barely handle the expenses here so how could I handle higher rent as well as expenses someplace else?  I wish I knew a handyman to do some patch work to get me by for a little while.  There's that wishing thing again.  Sigh.  I'm feeling down again.

Saturday I get up early because I want to can some apples a neighbor has given me.  I think instead of dehydrating or freezing these I'll make pie filling. That means I need to wash the jars and put them in the oven to sterilize before peeling the apples.  I start pulling out canning jars from the spot I store them beside the freezer in the kitchen. 

When I spotted these guys.  Eeeeek!  Fiddler spiders!  Also known as brown recluse spiders.  Very toxic like a black widow spider.  Geeze..... they are not alone.  There's two more of them back there.  I hit the loose ones with a fly swatter and spray a killer on the ones in the jar.  Creepy!  Ok, forget the apples, I need to do some cleaning!  If there were 4 spiders in one tiny spot, how many more are running around my house?  Oooo.... horrors, how many may be around my bed?  Shudder.  Hmm... I've killed a couple in the bathroom and another one disappeared down the furnace vent a few days ago.  I get started cleaning.  I clean the area where the jars sit and move to another area to clean.  I move the microwave so I can clean the area where it sits.

When I spot this.  Eeeek!  Mouse poo!  So it's true, what the guy on the news said, the mice follow the spiders.  I start really feeling the pressure to get this place clean, clean, clean!  Ok, right about then I'm feeling really anxious and even farther down in the dumps.  How am I going to accomplish all this cleaning AND keep on a quilting schedule? 

I get a phone call from Mrs. Santa Claus disguised as Miriam.  Miriam asked me if I wanted a serger that she isn't using.  Are you kidding? I'd love to have it!  She says she'll bring it to me one day next week.  I go back to cleaning.  The phone rings and it's Miriam again.  She has an old treadle machine.  Would I be interested?  Oh my!  Another wish about to come true.  Yes, absolutely, I want it.  That's not all.  Miriam has a knitting machine if I want it.  Sent to her many years ago and still in the box.  My heart is racing with delight.  Three wishes granted in one day.  I'm in heaven.  She's gonna bring them right over instead of next week.  Hmm.... maybe Miriam is really a genie who's granted me three wishes instead of being Mrs. Claus.  I'm on the high side again.

Miriam brings me the new toys and we are having a really nice conversation.  As happens sometimes, a person with whom I really get into talking with..... I'm reluctant for them to leave.  We are talking and having a good time when the phone rings.  It's the nursing home.  My mother is acting up again so they need to send her to the hospital.  She was just at University hospital yesterday but they sent her back to the nursing home last night.  Miriam decided to leave so I could deal with my mother.  I wish she could have stayed a little longer but I did need to call the hospital in Indiana to give permission for mom to be sent there.

Here is the serger.  There's no instruction book but I may be able to find one online.  Anyone know where I can get a copy of the instruction book for this?

Here's the singer treadle machine.  Miriam took it out of the base to make it lighter for moving.

Here's the base.  Everything looks fine.  A few loose screws is all.  I'm sure it works but I believe I'll get the sewing machine guy to do a maintenance tune up on the inner workings.  I'll work on the cabinet to get it in tip top shape while he does the machine.  When it comes back I'll do a good cleaning of the writing etc.  Oooo, I'm gonna have so much fun with this baby!  I can see me machine quilting already.

Here's the original book for the machine.  It's dated 1920.  Oh what a treasure I've got!  My grandmother's machine was a 1920 too.  Her's was a wedding gift from her parents.  Her parents ran a small river boat along Kentucky rivers carrying furniture and groceries to very remote towns.  Can you tell how excited I am? 

Here's the knitting machine still in the shipping boxes.  I got excited about the wood shipping box too.  It's all old "hard" wood that's rare to find these days.  The top is put on with screws so it will be easy to open.  I wanted to open it right away but decided to wait.  Too many other things to do first.

These are the original pattern books too.  They are in Dutch I think.  I'll need a translation of just a few words then I can pretty much figure the patterns out.  For example the word for needles or yarn will be repeated in the patterns.  Once I know those and a couple of other words I believe I can figure out the rest.  Anyone know how to read Dutch?  Anyone have a kitting machine that will sell me a copy of your instruction books?  Knitting machines should be like sewing machines.  Learn to use one and they all work pretty much the same.

Inside the instruction manual, the first book, I found the original receipt.  Dated October 1957.  Wow, this just keeps getting better and better.  I can hardly wait until I get time to play with the new toys.

Look! Look!  I can knit socks.

Oh my goodness!  I can knit little girl's dresses.  I found patterns for knitting men's long johns and ladies bras & undies in the books too.  There's even a pattern for baby soakers to cover cloth diapers.

Hmm... maybe I'll call Gary to see when he can pick up the singer to do a maintenance on it.  Hmm... what's this?  What do I spot when looking for Gary's card?  A business card for a carpenter.  How did that get there?  I don't remember putting it there.  You think he might be willing to do some patch work on my house?  I don't know but I'll ask him.  It might be one more wish granted.  Ya never know.

Right about now you must be thinking I'm on top of the world.  Yes, I'm am on the high side.  Feeling absolutely great with all the treasures Mrs. Claus brought me.  Oops, I forgot to call the hospital.  Only about 15 minutes had gone by since Miriam left so it wasn't too long. 

I call the hospital in Indiana to give permission for my mother be transported there.  I'm told they won't accept her anymore.  Huh?  Why not?  Because the nursing home is going to evict mom and the hospital doesn't want to be stuck with her.  I haven't been told that yet.  Also, mom has exhausted all her Medicare and Medicaid hospital funds for this year.  It's going to be the same thing at every other hospital here in Louisville.  No one will take her because they don't want to be stuck with her.  Her behavior problems are too much to handle in a normal nursing home or hospital setting. 

My mother's mental health issues are not the regular kind we see today.  My mother has exhausted all medications for her type illness.  Over the years she has also been a street drug addict which only compounded her mental problems and weakened the effect of normal medications.  Several years of shock treatments in the 50s and 60s didn't help the mental health situation either. She is a diabetic and has altzeimers.  What's to be done with her now?  I haven't a clue.  

I have to start calling facilities out of state that are better equipped to handle her.  If she were not so violent it wouldn't be such a problem.  She hurts the other patients.  Yesterday she was hitting the other patients with something.  I believe it was a bud vase.  Today she was using her hand to slap people.  Even bed ridden patients are not safe from her violence. 

Mom also tries to have sex with other patients.  She sneaks into the rooms and removes her clothes then tries to sneak into the bed.  Which wakes the patient who starts hollering for the nurses.  Then mom fights with the nurses.  In her mind mom believes she is about to have sex with her husband and the nurses are trying to stop her. 

She also calls the FBI, the CIA, the Governor, the senators, the sheriff office, the police department, the fire department,...... you name it and mom calls them.  She's telling everyone that she's being held hostage and needs help.  Well of course those people must check out her story but then wind up calling me to "DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR MOTHER!

What can I do?  I have her in a nursing home, what else is there?  No!  Absolutely not!  I cannot take care of my mother in my home.  I'm not a skilled care nurse.  If mom were here I would eventually hurt her very bad then I'd be the one in serious trouble.  Everyone else in my family refuses to even discuss her with me.  Too many years of dealing with her has turned the whole family away.  This includes Mom's brother and sister and my own brother and sister.  I'm the only one who has held out this long to do what I could for her.

What am I gonna do?  What on earth am I going to do with my mother?  I want to tell them to open the doors and let her go.  Whatever happens.... happens.  At least I wouldn't be accused of putting her in prison anymore and I wouldn't be getting phone calls from the FBI in the middle of the night. 

So now I'm really down in the dumps again.  I simply don't want to deal with it all anymore.  I want a calm even life.  No up and down stress levels.  I can't think.  I can't clean.  I can't quilt. I don't want to eat.  I dread tomorrow when I must start making phone calls.  I've unplugged the phone for a little while so I can mindlessly type-talk with my friends.  Later I'll plug up the phone just in case the nursing home needs to reach me for an emergency.  I'll let the answering machine pick up in case it's her.

I know things look pretty stresssssss ful right now but tomorrow is another day.  A fresh start.  The quilt customers will be a little disappointed because I must put off work for a couple more days.  First things first though.  Phone calls are first.  Spider and mouse hunts are next.  Putting away the new toys until another day is after that.  Apples will go into the freezer instead of getting canned.  Then back to the quilting if possible.  Hmm.... eating has to happen in there somewhere.  Crock pot time!  As my friend Dawn always said.... "Anita when a bolder is in your path, you always seem to side step around it and keep going."  Starting tomorrow I'll do the side step shuffle to get around some really big bolders.

Thanks for read-listening to all my woes and and happiness stories.  I'm so glad to know you are there.