slow day

http://www.youtube.com/user/MissouriQuiltCo 
Look here to find a great video tutorial of how to create a Dresden Plate block. It has some super tips and tricks for a beautiful block. I have made Dresden Plates before and I learned a thing or two. Have fun with it.

A bit if a slow day today. We waited for the nurse to come, she had a student nurse with her so had to explain everything she was doing and she had lots to do beside changing the IV bag. She nedded to replace the tubing from the pic line as well as resetting the pump. She wants me to start going to the clinic for the changing of the IV. It isn't far but it has been so nice having the nurse come to the house to do it. I guess it is costly to have home service. After tomorrow it will be just 4 weeks until this is over.
I had to go to the library as I had no books left ,yikes, that is a horror for a reader. We got three books-  they were heavy and Ray had to carry them so I cut it down to three.
We went to A&W to try out the Grandma burger that is being advertised right now. Well frankly it is not Formidable in my opinion.
We ran into my sister Margaret in the mall while we were shopping for Neo Citran for Ray. She said she wa going to come over with a book for me . So now I have 4 books, two of them Fast Reads that I need to read this week and Margaret's book is due in 2 weeks so I'll need to finish it next week.  Two of them are big print so it won't take too long to read them.
Dog days!!
Here are two little fellows we ran into at the mall, I took 2 pictures so we could see the faces of both of the dogs .

Marg came over with the book and stayed for an hour or so to visit.

Then Ray and I both had a short nap, not while Marg was here LOL.

Tom's sent a supply list today for the next sewing class. I really want to go but it is a lot of trouble to me to get things ready. I have contemplated asking Tom to set me up for a price but naa , better not. I am just too lazy to do it but maybe I could go and observe.

The class is on Thursday so I can think about it. Ray won't want me to go out at night though. He worries....

Hmm maybe it wasn't such a slow day after all LOL.

Have a lovely evening friends.

Bon Soir.

redwork designs

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Free+vintage+redwork+embroidery+patterns&fr=att-portal&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8
Lots of red work designs on this page and following pages. If you don't want to buy and can draw these pages can give you lots of ideas.

http://freshlypieced.blogspot.com/2011/05/hexing-around-block.html
Another good idea. How to make a hexagon block. Looks like fun.
I won these little squares in an internet swap.

Hexagons joined together make neat Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks. I intended to make more and do something with them but so far that hasn't happened. I did make a nice table runner and some place mats using

hexagons for my son Jim.  I bought the paper pieces- 2 inch size . I like those as the paper weight suits me and is easy to  use. I can also use them several times which brings the cost down.

I found that doing these hexagons was relaxing. Some friends in my sewing group have done whole quilts using one inch papers. They did such cute flowers by fussy cutting the centres and the outer parts too. Such dedication!

This is a nice arrangemnt of

hexagons.

Isn't this pretty?

Pretty pinks,I do love these cotton yarns, such gorgeous colours. 

Ray is still very sick today so I had to do the jobs today. Well I wanted to so he could rest and get better. I did 2 loads of washing all the while carrying my Constant Companion who is getting heavier by the minute. I made him tomato soup as we both think it makes us better when we are sick. My mom always made it for me as a child when I was sick in bed. So if mom did it it had to work LOL. Then I prepared supper , sauerkraut, celery, onion and garlic along with hot sausage  , it is cooking in the oven at the moment. It is so good I can hardly wait to eat it.  Oh yes Constant Companion helped me with the dicing and slicing LOL . I had to be very careful not to cut through my tubing.

Today is Memorial Day in the USA, a time to remember all those who served their countries. In my case I have had loved ones who served their countires in all wars since WW1 . If there were any earlier I don't know about them. Thank you!

Time to sign off, have a lovely evening folks.

Buena Sera.

Sunday Times

No newspaper today ,so  set up our pill boxes for the week instead of reading the paper. What a job that is !!!  haha! I am so full of meds it is a wonder I can walk LOL. But I feel great today as I slept all night , no get ups. I can't remember the last time I  slept all night long. It was good!

How relaxing.... Nothing is more relaxed than  a sleeping baby. It is Charlotte today. I am giving Emilie a rest.

Ray is sick today with a very bad cold. So we are staying in to allow him some rest time. Poor guy. He seldom gets sick and when he does it hits him hard.

I won these red hat fabrics in the last Bingo game  I entered before I passed out and had to go to the hospital . There aren't very many people playing Bingo any more. In the old days there used to be at least ten players. I am thinking of some kind of contest so I can give these away. Here goes if you comment on my blog I will add your name to the hat :0 and choose the name  of the winner and send these fabrics to that person.

Red hats. The fabric in the left hand upper is 1/2 meter, the one on the right upper is a Fat Quarter, On the left lower are 2 Fat Quarters of the same fabric and the one on the right lower corner is 1/2 yard. Join in and take a chance.

Here is a bit of detail of the lower right .

After my haircut we dropped into Little Caesar's Pizza and picked up a pepperoni piza for dinner as neither of us felt like cooking. So we are both stuffed. LOL.

It is early right now 6:10 but I am sleepy and would like to go to bed but will not as I don't want to ruin a good night's sleep.

However folks this is the end of my blog for today. Have a great evening.

Konnichi wa....

late entry

Whoops, I forgot to do my blog earlier. We were watching a fascinating movie with several great stars in it and I got lost in the story. It was called The Gift and starred Keanu Reeves as a brutal wife beater who was charged with the murder of his lover. He was found guilty but was not the murderer, so the story revolved around finding the real killer. It was a slow moving movie but it caught me up in it despite that.
I finally got my hair washed today, it was ugly and I made an appointment to get my hair cut tomorrow. That will be so nice. I had it cut in the hospital by a lady whom I thought was a stylist. Silly me, owning a pair of dull scissors does not a stylist make LOL. So I am really anticipating getting it cut !!!
We are all agog here in Vancouver over the finals for the Stanley Cup. Some cars have 4 Canucks flags flying and I saw a truck with at least ten flags flying from the roof. It is kind of exciting.
And we had SUN today, it was just beautiful. Looks like Spring is finally here and in 3 weeks it will actually be Summer! WOW!
We did our grocery shopping this morning after the nurse came and changed my IV. The cost of food has sure gone up along with the cost of gas.We need another paycheque in this house. LOL
I made one dishcloth and that is all...!!!!! At least it is something.:))

Emilie in yellow, she is so cute.

Beautiful rhododendrons, they are everywhere right now and the city is alive with colour.

Time to go, have a great evening folks.

Bon Soir!

hockey game

Some game between Boston and Tampa Bay, third period and no score. I wonder which team will be the one we play for the Stanley Cup. 
The nurse came this morning to change the dressing on my Pic line and to change the IV solution and reset the pump all of which I have to carry with me at all times in a fanny pack. It goes with me to bed, to the bathroom, shopping , everywhere. Sometimes I forget and it pulls to remind me. But it is just until the 29th of June then we find out if this experiment has worked.

Here it is , my Constant Companion, never to leave my side.

We went out today and I put my companion in one of my tote bags,that worked well for me.  It must look funny though with the IV tube hanging out of the bag and out of me LOL>

We went shopping today and spent some $$$. Ray bought new black trousers and a white shirt to wear to Mary's wedding on the 11th.

I bought 2 shirts , I couldn't resist this bright orange and yellow top and then I got a white shirt. Big contrast LOL.

Another of my favourite pictures- Flowers. This time two tone tulips on the median boulevard between two lanes of traffic. These flowers in the midst of busy traffic delight my senses.

Boston won 1 goal to nothing!! It was an exciting game. Now on to the cup! Go Canucks Go!!

I am knitting more dishcloths but not sewing. Anyway it is something,better than nothing.

My sister Margaret came over this afternoon for an ice pack for her hand and she brought me a book to read.  I just finished a book by Sandra Brown entitled Switch. Neat premise, identical twins one is murdered. The culprit is an evangical priest who is intent on world domination by artificial insemination LOL.

New photo of our great granddaughter Emilie in Quebec. Chubby cheeks!! :))

Time to sign off. Have a lovely evening.

Kalispera.

Back once again

And hoping to stay here. Right now I am sitting in my chair while the latest contraption delivers my antibiotic. Isn't that amazing!! This will go on until the 29th of June. The infectious disease specialist is hoping the longer term will do the trick. Apparently this germ is rampant and so far resistent to antibiotics. In the hospital they gave me 2 different antibiotics and this home IV delivers 4 times a day. The home care nurse comes every day to set up the new bag and reset the pump. The down side is I have to take the bag with me wherever I go but if it works that is a small price to pay. If  it does not work the next step is to remove my bladder. We'll face that scenario if and when it comes but in the meantime my spirits are good today after initially coming home yesterday and feeling a bit down. I soon sent those bad feelings on their way .LOL
Ray has been a brick throughout all this, I thank God for him.
Thank you Mary for taking the time from your wedding preparations to post a message on my blog. It is most generous of you. I know how busy you are.
And thank you all for posting and praying for an improvement in my  health .
Sorry no pictures, have not been out to take some. I'll check my library though to see if there are some I have not used.
Sewing? I have not done anything this year so far, it is hard to believe that each month so far has been lost to me.  However I am looking forward to doing some embroidery as soon as I feel better.
I want to make a quilt for Charlotte, I bought some really cute embroidery designs and hope they will work in Windows 7.
Just a check in blog today, hopefully tomorrow will be a better blog.
Thanks for visiting!!!

Update

Hi there guys,

So as some of you already know, Grandma has been in the hospital for the better part of a week again and will continue to be there for another week.

Her e-coli infection returned in tbe blood and her urologist turned her over to an infection specialist. They now believe that this is an unnamed super bug and she will have to continue treatment indefinitely or until her body starts fighting it.

They have her on a constant supply of medication by way of tube/bag attached to her side under her arm.

I'll let you know if I find out when she's due home. She may update you herself with a blog post before I can :)

--Mary

Bags. bags and more bags

http://pursepatterns.com/free_bag_patterns.html
Tons of bag patterns here if bags are your thing. I have still to make a bag for some strange reason, but I want to. Does that count LOL.
I have not done any sewing for months , I need to get back to doing things. I did start a bag once and all the parts are sitting there wating to be made into a bag. I think that will be my first item to work on.  I guess you could say it is a UFO !! It will be my first as usually I like to finish a project before I start another one.
Ray and I went mall walking this morning,then off to Michael's for some yarn to make socks for Richard-at his request of course. The ones I made him before are finished so he needs new ones to keep his feet warm in the winter. It will probably take me that long to do them .Good thing he put in his request early
LOL.
In the course of our very exciting life we spend many hours recently at the doctor's offices. So in keeping with that theme we will be off soon for our next appointment ahaha....
We got bad news at the doctor's this afternoon, the infection is back. I had a test last Friday just after I got out of the hospital and it was positive for e coli germ. So now I am watiing to contact the specialist, that will be tomorrow. I  think  I came out of the hospital with the infection not cured. Not a happy camper.
Adam , Lisa and we went to Cockney Kings, our favourite fish and chip restaurant.  As we were going into the restaurant a young woman, aren't they all young women to me, was walking her dog. I asked her if I could take the dog's picture. It amazes me how many people allow me to take their dog's picture and don't even ask what I want the picture for.
Here is today's puppy...... Sticking her tongue out at me LOL

 Flowers rhododendrons , they come in such beautiful colours and make the spring time so fantastic.

 This is a real delicate pink with many florets that mass the colour.

The grey is the yarn for Richards socks . Ray loves to pick out the cotton that I use to make my dishcloths , he has a good eye for colour.

Adam and Lisa are off to the pub to meet Matthew for a visit. I hope Matthew comes back with them. That would be lovely.

The Canucks won the game last night but it was hard fought. The Nashville Predators gave us a good run for the money. So now the Canucks are on to the third round. It is very nerve wracking LOL.

That the news for the day, have a lovely evening everybody.

Kalinishta .

Off to the doctors

My day began with a visit to the eye doctor where a man I don't know examined my eyes, said he was looking behing the eyes and at the macula. Now I won't find out until next month what the results are.

Then the rhuematologist's office manager called and asked me to do her a favour. Could I come in today at 2:00 as they had a cancellation and they needed a patient for the student doctor to practice on. After my experiences in the hospital I had no trouble with that. Everyone there practiced on me LOL.
The results of that examination were not that good but no worse than I expected as I already new about most of it. The one thing he told me that I did not know was that I was living on the edge of my strength and when the UTI aattackd me I fell off the edge and the results of that you already know. Back to the hospital!! Quite an analogy isn't it. He is going to send me to a geriatric doctor. Just because I am on the road to 80 is no reason to assume I am old haha!! We'll see how that goes.
That was the day since the appointment was for 90 minutes, travelling back and forth took another hour more or less, mostly more!
Dog days are here again.

Here's a patient little guy sitting among the flowers.

 And the next dog is in the truck and he is very territorial so I stayed away and zoomed in. See the look in his eye, would you go too close to this boy? Not me!

Now for some beauty shots, I get my best flower pictures at Safeway's :))

Next the flower photos that I take outside in the gardens.

Is it the lighting ? Ya think! I'll try again on a sunny day if the tulips are still blooming then. Beautiful colour aren't they , they must be brilliant in the sunshine.

We are half watching the hockey game , Canucks took a 2 point lead early on but the Predators got one goal so we are now protecting our one point lead. Third period coming up!!

Good night folks I have a headache so will close out for now.

Have a great evening!!

Bonne nuit.

a nice little technique

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NY89RqQhPQ&feature=related

This is a nice little technique to give your quilts a finished look.

I have lots of photos tonight, pictures and not a lot of text. So enjoy looking.
I didn't put these up last night, another senior moment Haha!

Adam and Lisa prepared to go to Sechelt.

Grandpa Ray and Sam at brunch yesterday. These two are good pals.

Adam in the middle, Lisa on the left and me on the right. I swear I get shorter every week! I used to be inches taller and now I'm not LOL.

These photos are taking a long time to upload and sometimes they come up as the dreaded RED X and have to be done over. Irritating!!

Ray with a rare big smile, I'm glad I captured it for posterity.

Above Ray's photo is me with a big smile. I always have a big smile LOL!

That's the end of the brunch photos. Prepare yourself for today's pictures.

Daddy dandling Charlotte on his knee. Rick,Carla,Meaghan,Lewis, Charlotte and young Rick all came for tea today. Rick brought a chef's salad and Meaghan baked some scones which she brought along with home made jam. It was all excellent. Oh yes and I made Tea!!

More to come .....

  Meaghan holding Charlotte,Rick in the back and me in the front.

Sleepy girl.

A four generation compulsive picture :))

This is my favourite photo of Charlotte with a small grin of satisfaction.

I took photos of flowers and two of dogs today but they will show up tomorrow.

Have a pleasant evening folks, and I hope all of you had a lovely Mother's Day.

Buona Sera.

Sam's house

May SBS....   embroidered on my Janome 350E and added into a quilt for my great granddaughter Catherine.


Once again I did not take photos of Sam's house. My mind is a blank at times. Actually I have hit a blank several times this year. Every time I get sick I pass out and lose track of time and events. That is quite a novel experience for me since never in my life have I passed out before. So the blanks LOL.
Sam's new home is very comfortable and lovely. He has done a  good job of getting it comfy. He is still getting the suite on the lower level completed. Ethan was in there painting today, it is all very modern.
After Adam, Lisa, Sam, Ray and I went for lunch/brunch. It was a lot of fun and such a treat to get together with Sam.

On the way home I saw a lady with 2 little tiny daschunds going for a walk. I stopped and asked her if I could take their photos and she was happy to allow me the privilege. They were absolutely adorable. The darker one is called Lily and I did not get the brown one's name. Maybe next time I see them I'll stop and ask again for her name.

We are watching the hockey playoff game between the Canucks and the Nashville Predators. This is the fifth game out of seven. If we win this one we win this series and move on to the next. BUT the score is 2 to 2 . Can't seem to score again on this team. They have a fabulous goalie Pecca Rinne. I think that goalies win or lose the games. That's my opinion and I am sticking with it LOL!!

Ray said he took pictures on my camera while I was in the hospital but we cannot find them. I wonder why! Oh well we'll just have to retake them I guess.

I am so looking forward to seeing my friend Kathy again and going back to our classes. It will be fabulous to start up my life again. This coming week it is guild but with Adam and Lisa here I guess I won't be going.  I'll check with them to see if they would mind.

That is it for the night friends.

Have a great evening yourselves. Buenas Tardes !!

been away

Hi folks,
I am back again from the hospital, after another 16 days. This time I added pneumonia to my roster of ailments along another bladder infection and one more that came upon me in the hosptial right in front of the doctor. What happens when I get an infection is my legs collapse and my hnds shake so badly I can't hold a thing. But it is the legs that go completely and become like spaghetti.
But as of the moment I am good if not at full strength.
Adam and Lisa are here from Louisiana for a visit and it is lovely to have them here. They are really good guests.  They took us to Mr. Ho's for Chinese dinner tonight. We ordered Almond Guy Ding,Chef's special Chow Mein, Beef and Broccoli, dried boneless garlic pork ribs, and Special Fried Rice.  MMM it was delicious.
The night they came we went to the Cactus Club for dinner. Ray and I had a hamburger. It was huge and delicious!!
Last night Ray made his fabulous ribs and sauerkraut. Sam was here for dinner and Maryanne dropped in on her way to the airport as she is going to Jerusalem. So we had a full house.
You may wonder why I am talking about all this great food. After 5 stays in the hospital I grew very tired of hospital food LOL and am so happy for the great variety we have been having.
No pictures, I keep forgetting to take some. I need to get my focus back.
And that is it for tonight. I hope to be able to continue with my blog from now on.
Have a great evening.
Bon Soir!