Health problem out of nowhere.. 10-14-20

It has been over two weeks since I posted and I apologize for not writing sooner.  I have just been too ill to write.  I came down with Sciatica just at the end of September and it really laid me low.  I spent most of that first weekend in ER until they found something to lessen the pain.  Since then I have been on the drug Norco every four hours and struggling to find a position that eases the pain.  It has gone down from 10+ to about a constant three or four.  But I have yet to find the comfortable position.  

Yesterday I had a MRI, but no results yet.  Today I went to an acupuncturist for a treatment.  A number of friends have suggested this and this morning there was a long discussion on ElderOrphans with about half of the posts suggesting acupuncture.  I found an older lady practioner very close to home.   There is no change yet, but I understand it isn't exactly a quick cure so I will continue to go until we determine if it helps or not.  

The Norco makes me slightly nauseous and also sleepy, so I drift away very quickly.  I have almost finished one book in about four days, which is not very good for me.  But I go to sleep and the book falls, along with the bookmark, and when I wake up I have to find the book, the bookmark, my place in the story and then read back a bit to get my head back in gear.  All very odd for me.   I haven't been able to sew because my head and hands don't coordinate very well.  But I have a project all laid out that I can start any time I feel I can handle it. 

My quilting and Book Group friends and some neighbors have been here to help, to provide food, pick up Rx and drive me around for appointments.  I feel blessed.  Thank  you all. 

KoKo is staying with the lady who keeps him when I travel and he had a special visit with Nancy and Bud in San Clemente, returning to Cherie's today.  He is such a good dog, very happy and obedient and will sit on just about anyone's lap.  I miss him terribly, but can't take care of him right now.  They have offered to bring him for a visit, but he MUST sit on me and that is painful.  I know he is in good hands.  Every morning I wake up and reach out for him... where is KoKo?  

I will try to get back to writing and I have quite a few quilt pictures to share from my purchases at the SAQA auction and other TCQC acquistions. 

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Trying to get back to blogging 09-27-20

Have not been able to blog since last week.  On Thursday my dear friend Mabel Huseby of Mt. Vernon, WA, died.  She had been diagnosed with colon cancer in July, had surgery, went through two sessions of chemo therapy pills and ended up back in the hospital.   It was just too much for her, she was 89.  We met in 1999 at Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar and just hit it off as good friends.  We started writing e-mails back and forth every evening in 2010, so we were very connected in our every day lives.  There is such a huge empty place in my life I am having a hard time adjusting.  I last saw her in August 2019 when I drove up and spent a couple weeks there, including five days at a class with Sue Benner at the Coupeville Art Center and KoKo stayed with Mabel and Mac in Mt. Vernon.  We had planned another visit for May 2020, but that didn't work out due to the Virus.  Thought about going in October, but it didn't look much better than the May trip.  So now I will never see her again and I just can't get my mind around that.  

Just a week before I had gone to Oceanside Museum of Art to see the Southern California Contemporary Quilt exhibit so I have pictures of that that I want to post.  I'll try to do that soon.

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Pictures tomorrow 09-17-20

The exhibit "Southern California Quilts" at Oceanside Museum of Art is WONDERFUL.  Today was the opening day for the museum which has been closed by the pandemic.  Hopefully it will stay open, but it the Covid-19 cases increase the State will close things down again.  So, if you can, make a reservation and so see the exhibit as soon as you can.  

oma-online.org

Here is just one of the 35 quilts on display.

Measures 21" L X 43" W   

Blue Things 09-16-20

In support of the Biden/Harris ticket one of my Facebook friends has been posting photos of blue things every day.  And I have joined in.  

DETAIL of Pamela Allen's "Ellys in Malawi" quilt

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A visit to Visions Art Museum in San Diego 09-15-20

Visions Art Museum, which shows exhibits of quilts and textiles opened again today and I drove down to meet my friend Judy and enjoy the work of Judith Content and Melody Money.  It was worth the four hour drive down and back.  

I have long been a fan of Judith Content's work and there are several of her quilts in the Collection and several pieces of her button jewelry in my drawer .  Beside that she is just such a delightful person.  Part of the exhibit is the video of Judith working in her studio that is part of "Craft in America" on PBS.   They have a screen set up and will run the video, but it is hard to hear and, of course, one must watch alone due to social distancing.  Look it up on YouTube instead. 

I don't believe I have ever seen Melody Money's work "in the fabric", so I was delighted to see all the tiny details she includes.  Lots of hand work, embroidery, and beading.  

Because of Covid-19 California museums have been closed and just re-opened this week.  However, if the infection rate goes up again, the museums will have to shut down again.  So, if you want to see these excellent pieces GO NOW!  Reservations are required, look on the website, and the open hours are limited.  https://visionsartmuseum.org/

It seems too early, but the pomegranates have formed and are plumping out every day.  They haven't turned red yet, but this tree in my neighborhood promises a bumper crop.  One a year is about all I can handle and even then the only thing I can do with it is scrape it out and put it in a salad.  

 

During WWII my sister and I lived with our paternal grandparents in Los Angeles.  Their property backed up on an alley for access to the garage and across the alley was a property with a wire fence and a pomegranate tree.  I now believe that the hole at the bottom of the fence was intentional so that the neighborhood kids could reach under to "steal" the fruit.  There was always fruit on the ground near the hole!  With grandmother and aunt we made pomegranate jelly.  It was a huge job and involved a cone shaped sieve and cotton bag to squeeze the juice out of the seeds.  The jelly was a gorgeous clear red and I thought it was the very best jelly ever.   But not enough for me to ever go to all that work to make some these days.  

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New fangled things 09-13-20

I've always been fascinated by the solutions engineers and designers come up with.   How do they design machines that produce complex items like this lid for a takeout coffee cup?

I am a big Starbuck's fan and KoKo and I usually go every two or three days for a latte fix.  But there is a Dunkin' Donuts drive thru between here and the Starbuck's and I decided to give it a try.  The coffee was not as good as Starbuck's, but the egg/bacon/cheese on a croissant was fabulous!  I may switch around in the future.  

But the interesting thing is the lid for the coffee.  It is all of a piece and has the stopper build in.  I always collect the stopper/stirrers from Starbuck's and when I have a baggie full I put them in the recycle can.  I don't know if the pickers at the recycle place actually recycle them, but it makes me feel better about creating more plastic trash.  

Almost one bag full!

The tab is fastened to the middle of the cup and just hooks onto the drinking hole.  I doubt that the lids are recycled, but what a clever person designed this. 

 

As Robert Louis Stevenson declared, 

"The world is so full of a number of things,

That I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

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