March Progress Report

Progress?  Not much stitching this month, I'm afraid.  I did manage to stitch up one Christmas ornament, for Sarben, a new arrival in the extended family, but I haven't yet added beads or made it up.  Here it is:

The design is loosely based on the little stocking ornament in LA's Christmas Caboodle leafket from way back in the 1980s. 

 

So much has happened this month, it has just flown by, and I really hadn't noticed that no stitching was getting done.  My partner's mother has moved into her aged care hostel, and absolutely settled in incredibly fast.  She just loves it - loves the company, the activities, the food, the staff, and her room and little garden.  We found her an old-fashioned phone with large number pad that took 13 speed dial numbers, and she is managing to use that, which is a great relief. The small phone she had before was way too hard for her to manage, and as her two remaining sisters live a 6 hr drive away it means she can still have phone contact with them.  So, apart from settling her into her new home, we have been preparing her unit for sale - clearing the contents and cleaning.  As lots of her items ended up in our house, this also involved cleaning and repacking all the storage areas in my house (pantry, all the  kitchen cupboards, buffet, linen press, assorted trunks and boxes, the study cupboard, and my filing cabinet).  We have taken car loads of items to the local charity shop, and the job is just about finished.  Her unit still has its furniture, but all the cupboard contents are gone, and it's clean and ready for sale.  Here's hoping it sells quickly!

 

Here's a pic of Joan in her new room:

Joan is holding a reluctant Madalyn on her knee.  Miss Maddie now has two aged care facilities on her visiting list, and she is very popular whenever she arrives at either!  It seems as if every resident who ever owned a dog is excited to see her and wanting to talk to her and pat her.  Maddie tolerates it with good grace, but often I get the sense that it's not her favourite part of the day. There is a resident dog, Cameo, at Joan's hoste, and it is very friendly.  Whenever she sees me there with Maddie she comes over to sit with us for a while.  Maddie's favourie place in Joan;s hostel is Joans garden.  She always asks to go out and explore it whenever we're there.  It's a nice little area, which linls to all the other garden that surrounds the hostel.  We were able to take in lots of Joan's garden items ( eg table and chairs, pot plants, bird bath) to make the garden feel familiar for her.  Here's a pic:



 

It would have been convenient if Joan and my Dad were both in the same aged care facility, but they're not - they are at opposite ends of town!  So the car is getting quite a workout these days.  My Dad is not doing so well, physically.  He is tired and although he says he is not in pain, he looks as if he is.  Often he is in bed when I visit these days, and that's unusual for him. His appetite is not so good, and he is so breathless on exertion.  Often I still manage to get him to come out for a drive and an ice-cream, but the coffee shop visits had to stop as the exertion was too much for him, even with the wheelchair for transport from car to table. 

 

We also managed to squeeze in a 3-day trip to Melbourne which included a visit to Melbourne zoo and an up close encounter with the meerkats.  Such a treat! Here's the pic to prove it (that's me in the sunglasses on the left):

 

So that's my story for March.  I hope April is a quieter month and that I can get back to some stitching! 

 

Measi - hope all is well and that your family is healthy and having a happy time.

February progress report

I managed to finish up the Sam Hawkins heart Santa tonight.  I think I prefer this one to the one I stitched in January over 2 on 24 count evenweave. 

So, in February I stitched and finished a total of 11 ornaments - 10 angels and one Santa.

These are the Angels:

A Santa stitched

It's the second time I've stitched this (Sam Hawkins heart) Santa this year, but this one is much more compact, as I stitched it over 1 on 22 count using two strands of floss and Continental stitch.  It's going to be a Christmas ornament, a gift for the lovely mother (& MIL) of the young couple for whom I stitched the other Santa earlier this year.  The stitched ornament isn't really as distorted in shape as the picture suggests!  I hope to finish the ornament up tomorrow, time permitting.

The last of my February angel ornaments

I am so pleased to have finished making up my angels.  Now I recall why I usually restrict my batch of ornaments to four or five - ten to make up is a little overwhelming.

Yesterday we had a really lovely experience.  I was concerned about how my partner's mother would react when we viewed her room at the hostel, but my concerns were  totally unwarranted.  The room was being painted when we visited, but we were able to measure up and make decisions about what furniture to bring.  Joan loved the whole experience, and said several times "I think I'm going to be very happy here",  She was thrilled to find her room opens onto her own little garden area (actually that was one of the major factors involved in our choice of this hostel), and she was very pleased to hear that one of the residents is looking for a Scrabble partner - Joan's favourite game.  She met some of the residents and got involved in activities, and it all went so well.  So, it's all stations go now.  She'll be moving in next Wednesday, and it will take us from now to then to label clothes and pack.

Five more angel ornaments finished

They're all adapted from TIAG's 1986 Christmas angel freebie .  I still have three to make up - I'll do them as soon as I can.  Then I'm having a rest from angels - back to Santas I think!

Life is pretty hectic in my world.  My Dad's renal and cardiac failure is progressing, and he is so very tired and often confused and a little aggressive.  It is so hard to see him suffer.  He says he has no pain, but I think he must.  In the past he has had three heart attacks without any complaints of pain at all.  He has had enough of this struggle to live.

And today we heard that my partner's mother has been offered a room in the aged care hostel she has chosen to move to.  As soon as we told her the bed was available, she protested that she;s not ready yet - but really, she is.  She has no short term memory at all, and we are starting to be very concerned for her safety as she lives alone and has refused to move in here.  Tomorrow (well, technically today, as I just noticed my clock says 3.52am) we're all going over to view the room and look at what furniture etc can fit in it.  Wish us luck!  It's not going to be an easy time for any of us.

Two down - just 8 more to go

I finished these two tonight.

I'm aiming at finishing two each day for the next four days.  Time will tell!

Six more little angels stitched

Once again, they're (rather heavily) adapted from TIAG's Amish Angel (1986 freebie).  So that makes ten angels stitched  - and none made up into ornaments yet (though I do have all the backs stitched and ready to go).  I now need to make up the ornaments before it all gets out of control!  So I guess that will keep me safely out of mischief for the next week or so.