It's bloody cold right now, -20C and the house feels cold, even with the heat on. Jack is well and back to daycare but the big guy was sick last night. He's feeling better this morning thankfully and is driving to Wetaskiwin to be with his dad, as his dad is being moved into long term care in Camose; a town which is a thirty minute drive from Wetaskiwin. My mother in law can't drive on the highway anymore and shouldn't be driving in town either but that's a whole other thing, so they won't be able to see much of each other, and this is our government's solution to the problem of old people who require care, move them wherever.
The same thing happened with my dad twenty-two years ago. He was told he would be moved to a care centre forty minutes away, with a wife who couldn't drive. The next day he got pneumonia and died five days later. He was having none of it. My mother did the same. My siblings told mum she should go into long term care and four days later she had a massive stroke and died on the sixth day. We are a stubborn family.
Yesterday was a bit of a bust. I always feel better when I "do" something. I started painting the ceiling, a popcorn ceiling, because I wanted a long term project, and it didn't go well. Now I have a couple of small bare patches and I need a new plan to deal with ceiling. I painted the downstairs popcorn ceiling without problems and thought this would be the same, but it's not. That was deflating.
I tidied up my sewing room, threw out some garbage and decided to start work on Miss Katie's quilt again, that had been stalled because of caring for Jack and me deciding I wasn't sure about the blue and orange patches. I did some research online and decided on this configuration for the quilt that I'm happy with. It will look something like this.
I also found this quilt which I would love to try one day. It looks like the kind of quilt that would keep a kid occupied for hours, it would have kept me occupied anyway, looking at all the different colours and pieces of fabric.
So that's it. Nothing exciting. I'll get on my bike later and get my heart rate up, listen to CBC radio and work on the quilt. Hopefully the big guy will bring Chinese food home from the restuarant on highway 21. I lead a full life:)
When I was a quilter I was frequently surprised at how well orange and blue go together. The fabrics you've chosen are just cuter than bugs. To answer your question about how good the Thermochills are on ice, I don't know. We always hike with poles which help with the not falling. We also stay on the snow on the trail. Ice is something to be feared, especially in parking lots.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I need poles, although it seems like one more thing I could impale myself on:)
DeleteOrange and blue go together so beautifully.
The ceiling. It sounds like you have a sprayed ceiling. Part of my house is a textured ceiling. It had the bumpy texture but can be painted. Two room had the sprayed ceiling and I had to scrape it off before I could paint. It's work.
ReplyDeleteI like the color choices and the third quilt would have kept me busy, too. I'm sorry about what is happening with the elders. It's cruel.
Yes, it's a sprayed ceiling. They're cheap and easy to do and means the builder can cut corners and time because it hides irregularities when the drywall is put up quickly. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Just sit with it for now until inspiration hits me or a bunch of money.
DeleteMy mother and both my grandmothers (and probably many other female relatives before me) used to collect our shirts and dresses and so on, cut them up in bias strips, which we then helped to roll into massive balls and send them off to a place (a religious mission). Weeks later, we would receive a woven carpet complete with fringed edges. We used to spend ages rediscovering our clothes and my dad's shirts in it. The carpet was usually put under the kitchen table until it fell apart by which time another lot of fabric strips was ready to go out.
ReplyDeleteI wish we had something like that. I've tried it and have the braid for the rug but I'm finding it so hard to sew together. I'll have to check out woven rugs from old clothes.
DeleteThat messy quilt would be lovely with fabrics with things the kids could look for like bugs and flowers and trains and animals and cars and snails and shells and stuff.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel brighter soon.
I'm good actually. Just feeling housebound.
DeleteWhy do western countries think warehousing the old is acceptable. So weird. But your quilts are remarkable. Have you ever heard of the National Quilt Museum here in the U.S.? A friend of mine was traveling across the country last summer and stopped in (I can't remember where) and said it was the most beautiful, amazing museum she'd ever been to.
ReplyDeleteI looked up in the museum, it's in Kentucky so I probably won't be visiting it.
DeleteWestern countries think that money is more important than anything.
Beautiful quilts! I admire anyone who can produce one since I have 0 craft talent. John just put his mother in a memory care facility about 30 minutes away from his sister and him, to the tune of $8,000 a month. It's a racket but he can't care for her.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to be crafty, just cut and sew straight lines.
Delete$8000/month is awful. My husband's dad is in a care facility now but it's only $2200/month.
Jessie told me yesterday that August's name blanket is just barely still long enough to cover him. I made all of my children these quilt/blankets with their names on them and now all of the grandchildren except for Maggie and Levon. August told his mother that it wasn't a problem, him getting too long for his blanket because Mer could just make him another one.
ReplyDeleteOoh boy.
That is going to be a beautiful quilt.
Well, at least you know what you're doing next, making August a new name blanket:)
DeleteOh my word, I guess we were so lucky that both my mom and dad were taken care of relatively locally. I do wonder if that would still even be possible now. My sewing teacher (whose son had the accident and is now disabled) - well they wanted to put him in a home in Belgium???? Thankfully she stuck them out on that one!
ReplyDeleteIt's cruel, separating families like that.
DeleteGreat quilt designs!
ReplyDeleteThanks, but I can't take credit for them. I just copy.
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