Stitching Post and More

 I am back for a mostly stitching post.  For stitching almost everyday, I feel like I should have a lot more to show for it. I think that is because I am enjoying stitching again and there is just so much good stuff to stitch.

I have put the bunny aside for now. I am coming back to her though. She needs to be displayed by fall with her yellow sweater. This is where I am on it.

She is a cutie.

The reason for leaving her is I just am in the mood to stitch my patriotic stuff. I have a stack of other goodies that are calling to me as well, but red, white and blue is winning now.

I started the Pledge of Allegiance by Plum Street Samplers and was happily stitching ---although I did have to pull out some because I made a mistake in counting. Arghh...

This one is just so pretty. I really can't wait to stitch on it exclusively. It is all over Instagram and it is a beaut!

This is the pattern for the Pledge.

I set aside God Bless America too...

I honestly don't have much left on God Bless America. When I return it should be a quick finish.

What has happened you ask???

Too many to choose from ---

You see Jeff put an idea in front of me that I found to hard to resist. He suggested I stitch the grandkids a remembrance of America 250, so I knew just what patterns I wanted. I had already been looking at them. Both are by Teresa Kogut. They are similar and I thought they would be perfect.

My idea was to do one of each for both kids' families. Then the grandkids would have one of their own to keep. I want to maybe make them hanging like ornaments so they can hang them on their shelves or whatever down the road.

I ordered them right away and went to my stash for linen. I picked out the lighter linen shown below to stitch. This linen looks similar to the chosen colors on the patterns.

I kept thinking that light blue was too light, so I went back to my stash and chose one a little darker. Thank goodness for stash.

I have ultimately decided both are ok. I think the light blue is indeed light and the white of the eagle is very light. I have decided to complete both and outline in 801 anything that needs some definition. I think the trim on the finish can help with that too.

I have enough of both linens to do all four so that is not an issue. Anywho, I am stitching away on these and then I can't wait to get back to the Pledge stitch.

***If all that is not enough patriotic for you, I have another pattern someone gifted me that I am wanting to do as well. My goodness.

Thanks, America 250 for getting me back in the mood to stitch.

That is just a little look at where I am in the stitching department. I am not one to skip around, but I am breaking my rules. Let's see how long I last at jumping around before I go crazy.

*****

I have enjoyed my first week of no grandkids. I have slept a little later, like 30 minutes later. Nothing to sing about. I know many think I am crazy for keeping the littles everyday, but it truly is good for me. It brings life and purpose to me. 

I have a lot of sadness around me with a 91 one old negative mom (who just doesn't seem to know she is negative) and a hubby with Parkinson's. Children keep things in perspective. 

I needed June to reset my mind, but I will be ready to go back to my routine. Even in one week I found time to think and plan and change plans, etc. Week one proved fruitful.

*****

Jeff and I drove over on Thursday to Falling Waters State Park  near Chipley to see the state's only waterfall. Nothing like living that close to something and never once going to see it. It was a small park so not a lot of hiking or anything, but very much the Goldilocks moment for us.

Not Yosemite, but pretty cool for Florida.

Jeff had bought tickets to go see a comedian in Mobile last week on that Thursday night. I knew from the moment he told me that was a terrible idea. So many reasons... it would not be a quick trip to the car in a safe location like something in Pensacola. It would not be an easy drive where I can do it with my eyes practically closed. I was kind of fretting over it, but had let it go. 

Tuesday morning I walk into the living room and he announces we aren't going. I didn't really need to ask questions. I knew it had been too much.

Lindsay was none to happy about it. She thinks we need to travel the world which is not what we want nor what he is able to do. She has a very hard time watching her dad. Paul Allen seems to accept it better and just do everything and anything he can. They both love him immensely. They just deal with this ugly diagnosis differently.

He came up with this ride over to the park, so I said yes, instantly. That is more my kind of thing anyway. Quite frankly, I have learned that too much and too many people are hard for him. He has always been the outgoing one, but he struggles with a large crowd.

You never know when things you once did routinely will be LASTS. I don't think he will ever be able to go to an Auburn football game. I am so grateful for all those years we had season tickets. My thoughts are as the grandkids get older I will take one of two of them to the less crowded games myself so as not to stop all things for myself. Maybe Tucker and I will go to one this year. 

All those lasts are not just hard on Jeff, but myself AND the kids.

The progression of it all is difficult. I have moments. Like the other Sunday he came in after me to sit at church. The gait he was using almost teared me up. We are so blessed and I do my best to focus daily on all our good, so a little drive over to Chipley was a good day for us.

Lunch in the railroad southern town of Chipley with a cup of coffee from the Boxcar Coffee Shop was a special treat for us. He even went to a war movie with his friend Mike who he and Cindy were supposed to go over the comedian with us. Thankful for good friends!

We have our family trip to the Cape (Cape San Blas) soon and going to make the best of it. Mama is going to stay with her sister while we are gone. Praying all with be ok, but resting in God has us.

I had planned to get outside today and wash some windows or even sun, but I guess I am going to get to stitching on my patriotic things.

Sandy

12 Years of Change and Growth

 It has been 12 years since I began this online journal. March 22, 2014 found me looking at retiring from teaching in a few months. I had spent 31 years teaching and quite honestly that had been my predominant hobby. From March to June that year I was juggling a lot of plates; winding down from managing a large DoD grant for 5 elementary schools, recovering after planning a wedding for my daughter, and spending my weekends and some weekdays traveling and taking care of my stepdad who would die of cancer that May and helping Mama with all which that entailed. ---I seem to never garner the quiet life!

Funny though when you read any of those months' posts you would not know any of that.

Those months were busy but I was so hopeful for what was to come. I was scheming of things to come post teaching.

As I was thinking about this anniversary, I decided to stroll down memory lane and look at all the posts from the first year of blogging. LIFE AND my focus in so many areas has changed. 

I mean really changed.

This post is going to be a little like those first posts. A reflection and some forward dreams too.

One of the most notable changes from the first year of blogging was the length of a post. I don't know when I decided to start writing such long posts. My guess is when life got so busy I could not blog often. I had recently decided I wasn't even going to try and write anything other than a monthly post. This stroll down memory lane has me thinking on that. By the way, this one is going to be long:)

The biggest life changing thing that we will get out of the way first is the Parkinson's diagnosis for Jeff. That came in September 2023 after I had worked hard to get Jeff to go to the doctor for what I had already self diagnosed. This was also the summer when Mama fell and I had to sell her home and move her to senior living. 

I spent that Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2023 doing 2 things which may seem at odds with each other. I realized life was going to change and that I would not be able to keep up...

Less decorating and more purging went through the set up for those holidays, BUT at the same time I realized how important those holidays were and my role in them. As a family, we were in shock and as the Mother Bear I needed to BE was a Mama Bear willing to lead the family.

Parkinson's entering our life alone may me want to quit blogging. I don't think God wanted that because trust me HE and I had lots of conversations about it!!! Have you ever experienced a rough patch and needed encouragement from those who have walked that road? I have felt Him whispering to me that very thing and I am going to be completely honest I have told Him - "I don't want to be that spokesperson."

Also throw in a little bladder cancer for him last April...yep, it has been a tough time.

I am still here ---so we will see ---

You see that title - change and growth. Not always fun, but they are part of life and our faith journey. He walks with me and He talks with me and tells me I am His own. And yes, there is JOY there. If you know the song ----

The other hard thing that we will get through and move on to the more interesting changes is -Mother. Mother was always so strong when I was growing up. My dad died young and she raised me well. However, in May of 2014 when my stepdad passed away, she just couldn't be strong anymore. One thing I had not put into my dreams about retirement was being in charge of so many things for her. She did her part for me, so now I reciprocate. She turned 91 yesterday. She has had some really good days since Thanksgiving. She does get very winded with any exertion now, but like I said, she has been doing well. I realize it could change anytime. I have had to do so much more than I realized I would be doing. It is very tiring, but it is a necessity and one I won't be sorry I did.

 NOW, let's move on to some lighter topics!!!

I have loved roses since I was in the 8th grade. I babysat for a couple that lived across the street from us and the man grew roses. He had a whole row on them down one side of his home. Think morning sun and richer soil in south Alabama than coastal sand. I always wanted to grow them. In the early 2000's just before we moved in our current house I had planted some at our old house. I was having fun with them and then we decided to move. 

As soon as I retired I set out to plant roses. Oh my goodness, what I didn't know was how hard they would be to grow in my environment. I was stubborn and never considered some varieties that might have worked here. I kept pursuing those that I had loved so many years ago. 

Change and growth with the growing of roses. I have decided I am truly tired of the struggle. Some years ago, I gave up trying to grow them in the ground in our sand. I changed out our beds and now those same beds that left roses with no leaves by July are lush and bring so much joy to me. Bottlebrush, day lilies, and amaryllis are much more fun to walk out and see than roses that aren't happy. I have 3 left in pots but they aren't happy and I am truly ready to give that struggle up and maybe just buy me some every now and then to enjoy.

While I am on the topic of growing things which I do love, I got over a house full of plants inside. Mostly because I got a good case of fungus gnats in my kitchen. Out went all of my houseplants except one and guess what I haven't missed them once! That surprised me. I kind of like the look of less clutter. I had way too many!!!

Sewing is next. Strolling through that first year of posts, I realized I did sew a good bit. I really thought that was something I wanted to do, but I really really didn't enjoy said sewing. I came to realize knowing how to do something and it being your hobby are really 2 different things. My mom was the seamstress and was amazing at it. I do a wee bit, but it is not something I am running in my little room to do. 

Oh and that room, the gift from Jeff that Lindsay is responsible for getting off the ground. I LOVE that room even if I don't sew as much as I thought I would. It is MY little space. 

Stitching was definitely on my mind. I had taken a break from it due to teaching and life being too busy for a season, but I was scheming in March of 2014. I had no idea how much the stitching world had changed, but I soon met many of you who inspired me and taught me all the new. It along with reading are 2 of my favorite things to do and keep me sane with all the growth and change going on in life.

Reading is one of those things that hasn't changed. I still love reading the same things...lots of nonfiction and happy fiction. Although, I read all types of things. I love learning. I will say I am very annoyed with publishers these days, as I see an agenda being added to all new releases that I don't approve of or agree with. I guess I am going to have to go back and read oldies but Goldies. 

Lots of decluttering and organizing have taken place in the last 12 years. I spent the first 6 months painting some rooms and finishing up that layer of my home. The one thing that the first year brought to light is that I broke ALL of MY OWN RULES for decorating that year. The stuff I bought to put in my home and blog about makes me shudder these days. Almost all of it ended up at Goodwill. I came back to myself after that first year. 

One thing I didn't have on my radar  was the growing family which has been my greatest gift. To keep the 4 munchkins that God has gifted me called GRANDchilren has been truly the most wonderful unexpected GIFT. He truly knows best!

I will be back later with updates on those grandchildren, my stitching, my gardens and so much more, but this post has been rolling around in the noggin for the past 2 weeks.

There are more chapters to write, more beach strolls, more flowers, more family moments, more stitches AND just more life.

Looking forward,

SANDY

P.S. What is a spring post without an azalea picture?

Muddling Through

 This is a post I don't really want to write, but I must. I am going to start out with some good and then I will share the hard. 

September is birthday month. Mine and Lindsay's are in the same month as are Jeff's and Paul Allen's. As we age and our family grows, we have started celebrating together. I told Lindsay I was just missing some fun time with the boys so we took off one Saturday morning early (to beat the heat) to go to the zoo. It had been ages since we had done that. In fact, Lindsay was pregnant with Palmer that last time we went. A new baby giraffe had born, but seriously it already looked grown by the time we were able to put this together. 

This is not the baby. He was on the left sort of standing back from the feeding.

Of course, we had to take the train ride. It was getting hot by this time, so you can see the red cheeks.

The big hit for Palmer were the cheetahs. He really didn't want to leave them. I don't know if he had recently seen something about them, but he loved them. 

There were 2 of them just laying down and flopping the tails.

I have not stitched very much this summer, but not because I don't want to.

I have stitched on a summery piece with shells and have enjoyed it when I can. I managed to get August's Christmas ornament for the Stitch-a-Long that I am trying to keep up with.

I have many things I would like to do, but my mind is not quite in the right place. 

Mom's house is on the market and that was a huge load off my mind. I have stuff in the front bedroom to deal with. I try to just close the door and not worry about it, but if I walk by it I feel it haunting me:) One of the biggest things are the large number of photo albums that need to be dealt with. I have already unloaded some to other relatives, but there are many to deal with. 

Mother has good and bad days. We did get the MRI and her taken to a pain doctor and an orthopedic doctor. She is not eligible for any cementing procedures. I know there is a name for that, but I just don't want to look it up. Her spine is too far gone with osteoporosis. She did get a new brace which is smaller and only fits the lower back since the fresh fractures were determined to only be in the lumbar region and from the fall. I hate that they were missed back in June. She could be on the road to recovery MAYBE. I really think she just has a good many issues at this point. She wants to be able to get up and enjoy the place we have her at and on a good day like the next picture shows it seems like that is possible, but the past 2 days have been plain awful. 

Lindsay took the boys by to see her after our zoo trip. They livened that room up quick.

Again, if you saw her today she would be in bed. We will be thankful for the good days and right now they are about 50/50.

I am still keeping Miles for now. He is growing like a weed and in to everything. Our biggest excursions are to see about Mama and to the grocery store.

On this day, we purchased some pumpkins.

On this day, we tried out the wheels.

Now, for the not so much fun to write part. 

I don't want to be a spokeswoman for hard times or be the one that writes a blog about aging or health for that matter, especially the part I am about to write. I guess time and my good Lord will show me what to do. I promise this week I plan to write a post that has nothing to do with Mama or any of my other problems....just a fun post of an old treasure. I need to capture some of those things for my children. It is coming.

I have known something was wrong with Jeff for a long time. Convincing him to listen to me was hard. I even self diagnosed the issue as far back as March if not before. I really wanted to be wrong. He finally shared it with our wellness doctor in Pensacola last spring and he wanted him to head to Mayo in Jacksonville, but of course Jeff put that off thinking it was just neuropathy. He finally called but then it takes a long time to get in and all I could do was pray that when he finally go there they would see what I see and run all the right tests. He was only going for neuropathy but I KNEW there was more. 

The doctor did see what I saw and scheduled him for 6 tests in the 2 days he was there. I haven't slept much since he left over a week ago. I prayed for those tests. I didn't want to be right but at the same time you can't know what you are fighting if you don't have a diagnosis. 

Jeff is in early stage Parkinson's. I really don't have the energy to write what I saw to know that. I hope in time I can write more, but for now I am in survival mode. Between Mama calling half of the days crying in pain and this I am just taking care of the moment. I have a great faith and I will get through it with the help of Jesus. I pray we stay in the early stages for a very long time. 

There are many decisions to be made. Lots more than you even realize. First up is retiring. I am pushing for June which means he would start leave in March. He will, but he is struggling too. Depending on the progression and the plans ahead there is much to think about. 

For now, pray for Mom's house to sell, her to be able to rest, and for a miracle first for Jeff and then if not that, a very slow progression.

Yes, life has thrown out a lot for almost 2 years now, but it has also provided so much good. We had a good friend's daughter to be baptized last night. Many prayers being answered there. 

When I have pulled myself together I will write more. I hope to put out a much lighter post later this week.