Update on Mom

Last Wednesday, the physical therapy people came out to my parents' house to make sure that it was safe for mom to go home to. They quickly determined that the doorways were too small, the hallway was not wide enough and that the bathroom was not wide enough for mom to maneuver through the house in her wheelchair. It seems that houses built in the 1950's that have not been renovated have 23" wide doors. Whereas, the doorways in newer houses are 33"-36" and the hallways are at least 36" wide and bathrooms have to be big enough to accomodate a wheelchair. So, seeing that this was leading to a situation where mom might not have been able to leave the hospital, I quickly spoke up and told the PTers that I had a brand new house, that mom could have her own room and bathroom downstairs and that it was an open floor plan so there would be not doorways and halls for her to be blocked out of certain areas of the house. So, they came over to my house and quickly approved it as Mom's Hangout. On Thursday she was released from the hospital and brought to Chez Elliott for her recouperation. I have become mom's 24/7 nurse (a job that I wouldn't trade for the world). She is making tremendous progress in the few short days that she has been here. We have been working on her transferring from the bed to the wheelchair and back again. At first it was a major job transferring her and in just a few short days, she has been able to make the transfer a lot easier. Tonight she surprised me by being able to wiggle herself up into her bed whereas, the last few nights Richard and I have had to move her up with the draw sheet (that is a sheet that goes under the patient and allows a person on either side to pick the patient up with the sheet). I turned around to do something and while I was doing it, she just scooted herself right up the bed. I was so tickled with her that I almost started crying! And, she sat at the dining room table tonight and made me a list of things that I need to do tomorrow!! LOL!!! We used the bed risers that you can buy to make a bed higher and put them under the dining room table and she can sit at the table comfortably. She's come a long way since May 26th!!!

GREAT NEWS!!!!

After 6 1/2 long months, my mom is finally being released from the hospital. We expect to have her home either Wednesday or Thursday. Thanks for all your prayers and good thoughts. This would have been a very different Christmas for us if things had gone the way the doctors first predicted. So, let it be said that I believe in miracles!!

Hugs to all,

Pati

A Long Overdue Blog

Okay, so I'm not very good at timely blogging!! My excuse is that I've been busy! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!! *Grin*

Let's start with Thanksgiving. I had 40 of my closest relatives (or should I say DH's closest relatives) here for Thanksgiving Dinner. My mom, dad, and sister had Thanksgiving at Sis's house because there were way too many people here for mom. Mom was given a day pass from rehab to go to dinner. I fixed 2 Turkeys and a spiral ham, garlic mashed potatoes with gravy, scalloped corn, green bean, cornbread stuffing, field peas, sweet potatos, blueberry jello salad, and banana pudding. Others brought green bean casserole, carrot cake, pumpkin pie and apple pie for desert. Even though I'm really a very private person, I enjoyed having all of DH's side of the family (including his 95 year old grandfather) at the house. I think I've been elected to do it again next year. *Grin*

My mom. I know that I haven't blogged about her in a while. She is doing EXCELLENT!!! She is in a rehab center and has been there since September 4th. She has had her trach removed and her feeding tube. She is learning to walk again and should be home in time for Christmas!! AMAZING!!! And to think that several doctors told my sister, my dad and I that we should make her comfortable and let her go. My brother, his wife, my sister and I have been working in their house. We've pulled up all the old carpet, painted the living room, dining room and hallway and tiled the living room, dining room and hall. It looks positively awesome in the house now! She will have a nice comfortable house to come home to. Its hard to believe that she has been in the hospital since May 26th. Yep, you read that right, May 26th. Here is a picture of her and her middle sister, Helene. Aunt Helene lives in Providence, Massachusetts and came down to visit her daughter and granddaughter for Thanksgiving and took a side trip to visit with mom. So glad she made the trip.

I've pulled all my Christmas decorations out to start decorating the house. I've done minimal decorating (a barely decorated Christmas tree most years) for the last 6 years (I was in retail and it was the worst time of the year for me). So, now I've got the time (ha ha .... okay, so I'm unemployed) and the energy to decorate the house. So, here are some pictures of the boxes and boxes of stuff that I am going to work through in the next few days. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Hugs,

Autumn Quilt

I've been working on an Autumn Quilt to put on the couch for those nights when the a/c is too cold. Being in Florida, we almost never turn off the a/c...LOL!!!! I took two Moda charm packs from last year, put a 2.5" sashing between them and put them together. I found this great paisley (I LOVE paisley) print that ties all the colors together. I still have 2 jelly rolls of the same line and I want to make something with them, but I'm not sure what. Its a twin size and I'm trying to decide if I'm brave enough to quilt it on my machine.

More Quilts.......

I finally finished my niece's quilt today. I made this from Bonnie Hunter's Patches and Pinwheels pattern that was in Quiltmaker and also on her website. My niece wanted blue as the only color. So, I used lots of blues and white, off-white and beige. I think it turned out nice. Now, I have to wait until I can afford to have it quilted. So, it goes in the flimsy pile.




My next quilt is going to be for my friend Kim. She got married 3 years ago and we all wore matching Hawaiian shirts to her wedding. She wanted a quilt made out of those shirts. So, I'm taking the shirts apart and adding green, white, yellow and pink fabrics and making a quilt for her. The green, white and yellow are for the flowers and leaves on the shirts and the pink is for the beautiful Don Cesar hotel that you see in the background.


That's all I know for today.

Dear Jane Row B

Here is my Row B of Dear Jane Blocks. Don't look too closely......they aren't perfect.

More Wedding Pics

This is a picture of Shaw and Faith with our side of the family.
This is me and Richard.

Shaw and Faith.

The Wedding

DS Shaw married Faith on 2/5/2008. The wedding was great! It was a very casual affair at Faith's parent's house. Mostly immediate family and a few close friends. They wanted something with no stress and lots of fun! And that is exactly what happened. I've only got a few pictures on my camera, but I will get some of the pictures from my sister's camera and some from DD Stephi's camera.



This picture is the groom's cake. My DS is a HUGE BoSocks fan. I thought that it was only fitting that he should have a Boston cake.

This is the wedding cake that Alyssa and I made. It was yummy and very heavy.

Shaw and I were talking about something here, but I can't remember what. He sure does look happy, huh?

During the ceremony the bagpiper played Amazing Grace for the members of the family that had predeceased the ceremony. Faith had pictures of all four of her grandparents and Shaw had a picture of his dad, Roy. This is a picture of the Shaw, Stephanie and Spencer with the picture of their dad, Roy Steven Ashley. You would have been proud Roy.

Dear Jane Row A

As promised, I'm posting pictures of my Dear Jane blocks. I'm only putting up one row at a time so that you don't get bored. Being the obsessive compulsive person that I am, I'm doing the blocks in order. The first blocks are not that great, but they are done. Don't tell me if you think they are bad.....once I get the quilt done, you won't notice the individual blocks. LOL!!!

Visit with Aunt

My sister Helen (dark blue shirt) and I had the pleasure of visiting with one of my Aunt's this past weekend. She is our biological father's twin sister. Aunt Ene and our dad were born on Mary 14, 1944. There were 9 kids in the family (5 boys and 4 girls). Our father died when I was 7 and Helen was 4 in May 1970. I haven't seen Aunt Ene since my grandfather died in 1995 so it was good to see her, however brief the visit.

My Other Passion

I have developed another passion. Cake Decorating!!! I took the Wilton method of cake decorating classes at Joann's (when I worked there) and totally enjoyed them. My family is getting tired of eating all the cakes that I make though. LOL!!! Spencer's girlfriend, Alyssa, is also an awesome decorator. Shaw and Faith have asked us to make their wedding cake. And, of course, we made the bridal shower cake. This is a picture of it. The flowers are in the wedding colors, burnt orange and cranberry. Alyssa did all of the piping work and I made the flowers. I can't wait to do the wedding cake in 2 weeks.

Shaw's Wedding Quilt

Shaw and Faith's wedding quilt is done and has been taken to the quilter for quilting. I'm glad to finally have this one done! It is a big one too! I should have it back sometime next week so that I can get the binding on and wrapped for the wedding. The first picture is the front and the second picture is the back.