Maintain

That's the word of the day, I've decided.

Maintain.

Not sure if it's getting older, or if it's just me, but every day I have to make that decision:  to maintain.

This hurts, that hurts.  Headache, plantar fasciitis, a creaking back, a complaining hip.

Yep.   I just want to maintain.   I have to work, every day, just to do that.

By 6:30 am, all the critters have been fed and medicated,   I am usually sitting with my coffee, assessing how soon my head will settle down, and I can get started doing what I want to do.

Some days just simply suck, and it's hard to get started.  Other days, I'm off and running.
There is no sense to it, so I just roll with it.  I haven't found anything else that works.

So I am looking for an anti-emetic.......you know, a pill to stop you from vomiting.
I want to watch the President's speech, just because I feel the need to know what the danger is.  And I want to see all the faces of People of Color, that Democrats will bring as guests.  That will be awesome.  Elizabeth Warren is bringing an Iraqi refugee.
Go Elizabeth.

I want to know, yet on the other hand, I'm nauseated, and not sure I can get through it.

Today I read that while cutting Medicare and Social Security is not on the budget right now, they don't deny that at some point they will be on the table.
$54 billion  to pump up defense................where is it coming from????

Yeah, scary times ahead, folks.  I know a lot of people who LIVE on their Social Security checks.  They don't have a big retirement from some terrific job.  
A cut to Social Security would hurt me, but some people would be in serious  trouble.

So on the studio front, I think Lois has made significant progress in her weaving career.

She used to say that she only wanted to weave rugs, she'd leave those "finer" threads up to me.

But lately, she has evolved.  I have set her to work on different projects, and I have seen her becoming more comfortable doing things that she would never have even tried before.

She wound the warp, sleyed and threaded the loom, wound the warp on, and then did the weaving.

This is a scarf in hand dyed bamboo with cotton.

This is hand dyed bamboo warp, with silk weft.

They are both beautiful, aren't they??

Now if I can just talk her into doing these damn fringes.

My mission to make quilts for my family this year for their birthdays is under way..
Of course the baby got one, on his REAL birth day.....
and this is for one of my sweet grand girls.

Colors were her choice.

My littlest grand daughter loves her Poppa.

And she LOVES her little brother......in fact, she would hold him all day long if she could.


I'm not sure what she is watching on TV in this photo, but surely it is better with a baby on your lap.

So many reasons to maintain.

So many.

Perspective......again.

It's amazing to me how perspective makes all the difference.

I have found in the last five years of my life, that my constant headaches have made many other things in life, that might have once bothered me, pale in comparison.

When pain, in my case, a headache, rules your life, and every day is planned, and lived, around that fact, you know clearly what matters, and what doesn't.

This week, my headache has been exceptionally brutal.  I have struggled, I will admit it.

Then, in a matter of a couple of hours, this little guy, named "Cooper", was born.

Grandchild # 6

Grandson # 3

And suddenly, there isn't a headache in the world that will stop me making the drive to get there.

And NOTHING matters,except that he and his mom are ok.

Perspective.
You gotta love it.

I confess, when day after day I wake up with a slamming headache, I begin to wonder about the value of life.

But I'm ok now.
I've been reminded in the sweetest of ways.
That it matters.
Life. Family.  Love.


The quilt was done....with his name on the bottom.  I just had to come home last night and put the date on the top.
I hope he'll keep it forever.

Back to the loom tomorrow, feeling very grateful.

Don't ever take life for granted.  It is precious, no matter what.

Randomness

Wow,  I can't believe it's been a month.

Where does the time go even??  I guess I am getting old, because it speeds by faster and faster.

Today is my 70th.......yes, omg.......really.   MY 70TH BIRTHDAY.
How the hell?????

Well, no sense crying about it.  Truth is, I am grateful to be here, in light of what has transpired.
So hallelujah, and amen.
And thank you.


Just a few photos, to show you what's going on around here.


Syd is still the queen.

I still love this old house..........it sustains me most days.

I don't care about modern kitchens with granite.
I like my basic set up.  
It works.

It's the house I've always wanted, my whole life.
And there's no way to really explain that.
I just knew it from the moment I walked in the door.

We've been weaving up a storm......L and I.
Some scarves......

Some chenille....

What Lois is weaving on right now......

My birthday gift from L.......  
I love it.

And a Le Creuset dutch oven......from DH.  I've wanted one forever.

I've been doing some sewing.  This is a great space to work in.
The sun pours in the south facing windows all afternoon. Photos of quilts coming soon.

Getting through winter with a lot of homemade soups, but every now and then I crave a really nice salad.

I'll try to post sooner than a month.  Just trying to get through winter here......keeping busy.  Weaving, sewing, baking.....shoveling snow for the chickens.  You know, important stuff.

I'll be back.....