O3 - Oh My Gosh!

I can't believe how long it has been since I wrote on this blog site. It is so typical of all the efforts I have made in life. I start out with a zeal, and then
all my enthusiasm just dwindles away. Oh well, it is MY blog, so I can do it MY way.

I have just been having too much fun enjoying my office/craft room. That, and the fact that I have been teaching a craft at our monthly library sales. The crafts started as an effort to sell all the magazines that had been donated for the sales.
We were simply being buried in magazines. So I put "Crafts made from magazines" in Google search and discovered many things that could be made from your old magazines.
Last month I taught anyone interested how to make paper beads. Sarah and I got so
inspired that we have both been making beads at home. She is making necklaces for gifts, and I have just been playing around and experimenting. I give them away as fast as I make them. But it is fun!

Before that I found a craft book at the bookstore in Bloomington. It had directions for the nicest bookmarks made from cloth with magnets inside and trimmed with a decorative button. These, too, were claimed by others as fast as I could make them.
But, isn't it nice to be able to send guest home with a little memento- a useful reminder of our happy visit.

This month I taught many customers at the sale to make Christmas trees from magazines by folding the pages. Of course, prior to the sale I practiced by making
five or six of the trees and painting and glittering them in different colors for samples. That's a lot of folding, let me tell you. But everyone seems to like them and like to learn to make them. I think several Library Friends are planning to come to the house in a couple of weeks and make some of the trees to sell at our
Friends of the Library Christmas sale.

We have also been dealing with family health and nursing home issues. Mother has been moved to a new room twice, so we have been busy trying to help her adjust, so that the moves are not so traumatic. David experienced a bad fall leaving him with
a terrible hematoma on his right temple , two very black eyes, and a total lack of
responsiveness to his surroundings. He did finally say one word, "okay" to Don yesterday.

And then brother Clyde's broken and pinned hip did not heal properly. And Jane found it impossible to give him the home care that he needed. So last Tuesday we helped Jane get him to the Dr. and then to Rawlins House nursing home. He has been there all this week, and is doing well. Tomorrow morning Dr. Schick (my hip doctor) is going to give Clyde a total hip replacement just like I had. I am sure he will be at the hospital for a while and then will return to Rawlins House for his rehabilitation. I look for him to be there for at least the three months that medicare will allow. At least I hope that he can.

All these issues have been a big worry to us, and also make me very sad. But Don and I try to do all we can to help these situations, and then try to see all the beauty and joy that the rest of the days can bring. We are getting to the age where we realize that we may need help sooner that we want to think about. So, by golly, we plan to enjoy each day as much as we can!