"Oh the places we will go" Dr Suez Books and Quilts oh My

Let me start with David and saying he is doing well. He may have over did it Wednesday 4/10 working in the garden beds. He ran some errands and was feeling pretty good but Thursday he was feeling a little off. This man of mine has a hard time being idle.

Thursday 4/13 was the G3 book club meeting. Our book was 1984 by George Orwell. Oh wow. All I did was ask what did you think of the book.  And the rest was history. I'm sure a lot of my readers may have read this book back in high school. The book was disturbing for some of the gals due to the similarities to present day events in the world. This is why one of the girls picked this pick to wake people up. History being erased, the idea if you don't think like the party you're an enemy etc etc. I had Pam write the recap of the book and meeting this time. And one of the things she mentioned was sources state that Orwell modelled the authoritarian state in the novel on Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany. Another gal brought up this connection to Stalinist Russia and talked about the fact that many things in the book really happened. During and after WWII there were many atrocities and there was no privacy in the East. It was a great meeting with lively conversation for sure.

Friday 4/14, David seemed to be better Thank Goodness. We drove to Tomball/Spring and had lunch @ The Cotton Patch with his brother Gary and His wife Lynn. Had a great visit. After lunch David and I drove down the street to the surgeon's office. Knee replacement conversation time. Surgery is scheduled for 4/26 and I will be staying over night since we'll have such a long drive from the Woodlands back to Gause. As the date nears I get more anxious. The knee is unstable but I hate having surgery. Uggh.

Saturday was spent preparing to go on quilt retreat that has been on the books now for over a year. I love going on the retreats and getting to re-connect with all my quilty friends since we live all over the place. But this trip will be a tad different. 

Sunday arrived and I'm all packed except for a few last minute items. My long time friend and sorority sister Sheryl arrived and we transferred her stuff to my car and off we go. I made a side trip by Pamela's to drop off the twins their Easter Bags I made up for them. The bags had bunny ears but no face. Wait where's the face?! Oh they want me to draw it. Awesome so I did and then filled each bag with one chocolate easter bunny, 2 bottles of bubbles, Gold fish and Nilla wafers. And would you believe I forgot to take a picture of the bags. I added the boys names too. Sheryl got to meet Kaleb's family when we stopped. They were down for a visit and burgers. The kids got a new grill and Kaleb was the grill master. It was funny the boys dumped everything out of the bags and went for the bubbles. Maybe Pamela can take a picture of them for my next post. LOL

So off Sheryl and I went to Texas Quilt Barn in LaGrange. I wish I could say I was excited to try a new place but there were a few issues. I have been organizing 2 retreats a year since 2013 so it's not my first rodeo. I won't bad mouth the place because other people may of had a wonderful experience but when I could never tour the place to see the layout which wasn't bad but I had no way of informing my ladies what to expect. And there was a slow or lack of communication.  We arrived and everyone was buzzing. All 20 of us were ready to see our friends and get to sewing on unfinished projects or start new ones.  

I got set up but didn't start much of anything since I was going to have to leave early the next morning to go pick up my step-dad Joe in Conroe and take him to have a pacemaker surgery. I left one of my friends in charge and she had notes of what I needed to happen and then they could sew away. I would be back to the retreat sometime Tuesday as long as everything went well with Joe.

Monday 4/17 I got up and drove to Conroe, Texas to pick up Joe and get him to St. Luke's hospital in the Woodlands. I dropped him at the front door while I tried to find a parking space. I found a spot in the free parking garage and got lucky and caught the golf cart guy to take me to the front door. Found Joe upstairs waiting to be called back. They finally called him back and after prepping him they called me back to sit with him until surgery time which was supposed to be at 1pm but the 2 surgeries in front of him were running behind. Yeah go figure. Joe finally went into surgery around 2:38pm. A little late. Surgery went great and the his doctor came out to talk with me. I liked his cardiologist. Around 5pm they called me back again to sit with him in recovery.  He was actually fairly alert and doing great. Just after 6 they told me to go get the car and I could take him home of course after they gave me all the discharge info.  It was kinda funny because Joe got a little upset because he asked the nurse to repeat something and the nurse said "you're still under the influence and you won't remember and for now I'm talking to her (meaning me)." Joe was still a little miffed when he got in the car but he got over it.  I was staying the night just to make sure he didn't have any problems and then his sweet neighbor Rick was coming over the next morning and was going to stay with him until Wednesday afternoon.  All went smoothly and Joe is doing great.

I headed back to the retreat Tuesday around 11am. I made one pit stop in Brenham at Hobby Lobby to buy fabric for backing for a quilt I had hoped to finish and hand off to my quilter at retreat. Got the fabric but didn't finish the quilt. I did finish one boy quilt and handed it off to her but had to mail the other one that finished at home a couple days later after retreat was over. Pictures of both will be in a later post. But I will share some from retreat.  My friend Donna Marie made this cute room assignment chart.

This is a bag I made to carry our wool ironing mat, cutting board, rulers, whatever. And I personalized it with her favorite color and embroidered her name on it.  Donna Lynn was the first to receive one. I now know what to do on the next one to make it easier I hope. Not bad for my first attempt. I told her, hers was the prototype.  It measures about 28" x 26" give or take.

Anna (on the right) was the first to finish up a top. And Kim got her blue quilted top back and got the binding done.

         

Love the blocks that Sandy Y was working on.  And you ask "How many quilters does it take to repair a featherweight?"  LOL  Obviously these 3.

Bekki and Donna Lynn were hands on and Kim R. decided to google and found the answer. They were all going in the right direction but the machine was being difficult.

Denise turned these blocks into a quilt top.

Love it. Can't wait to see how she backs it. She always uses scraps or excess blocks from the top to the back.

These two (Robin & Sheryl) do an art called felting. Sheryl made 2 scarves. And Robin made a backpack and she modeled a hat she had made. They manipulate with water and towels. It's quite the process.

 It looks like she's holding a turkey.

From turkey to finished product

I love each and everyone of these ladies for their over all support and contributions for door prizes. You know when you mix 20 different women personalities you could end up with drama and/or conflict but everyone in the group gets along really well. It's a great group of ladies.

I'm gonna have to split this up or it's gonna become a novel. So stay turned for part 2. But you'll have to wait until after my surgery tomorrow 4/26.  Wish me luck. I was hoping they'd make it a bionic knee but no go. So I'll settle for one that works. 

Until next blog post....Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors

Doctors, taxes, back roads then a little chaos.

Our last day of our Hill Country Trip (3/25) David sent me a picture of Momma Cow #8 with her new baby. Don't you just love Baby calves.

We both thought Hailey #6 would have hers first. She is so big and her udders look about to explode.  She better hurry or they just might.

David and I went to the Giddings Nursey in of course Giddings to check out their plants and roses.  We came home with a fun red and white rose, a Peggy Martin Climber and a petite red rose for Pamela's planter.

All so pretty and healthy.

Before going on the Mother Daughter trip I had a doctors appointment so I could get the surgical release, get a chest x-ray and bloodwork ordered to get my knee replacement surgery on 4/26 but while there I mentioned how much it hurt when I cough, sneeze, hiccup or laugh in my back and side. When I first hurt it David put some CBD lotion on and could feel a hard knot. Doctor felt it too but she didn't think anything was broken but they could  x-ray the rib area too just to see what was going on.   Well surprise surprise.... the x-ray results came back with a note from the doctor saying I had actually fractured 2 of my left ribs. Really! How does someone fracture their ribs by bending over and twisting while pulling weeds?! Obviously I can. Leave it to me.   A bum right knee and fractured left ribs.  I'm doing good. Anyone know how long it takes for ribs to heal?  

David got the results of his nuclear stress test and EKG saying he was going to be scheduled for a heart cath on 4/7 and most likely they'd put a new stent in for the one he got back in 2008. 

For April Fool's Day we convinced ourselves it was cool enough for a fire on the patio. The fire got hot but it was actually just cool enough to enjoy if you didn't sit too close.

It was pretty.

Finally on Monday 4/3 our last cow, Hailey #6 had her baby calf.

It was so cute and fluffy. Maybe she can get some udder relief. Poor thing

 Later all three of the calves were curled up together but when I stopped to take the picture they scampered off but this one hid behind the tree. LOL

On Tuesday 4/4 we had to take our tax paperwork to the accountant in Temple. It was quick and painless. Let's just hope when she's done it will still be painless.  LOL   We left there , ended up in Granger, found something to eat, shopped in an antique mall and then we took off on some back roads to see what we could see..  And we saw lots of beautiful property, bluebonnets, windmill, old farm equipment and a pretty catholic church.  It was a very fun and relaxing day.

The bluebonnets just went on forever. Gorgeous.. My picture doesn't do it justice.

 

The church looks so stately with it's steeples and all the windows. They just needed some stained glass to finish it off. I guess they didn't ask me. LOL

After our backroad adventures that night we were watching TV when the dogs started barking like crazy in the back yard. David hollered at me to grab my phone and come outside.  I couldn't believe it, 3 tiny baby bunnies were next to the fence and Bruno and Sadie wanted them real bad.  I went in the house out through the garage to go save the baby bunnies.  I walked right up to them and they never moved. I picked each one up and moved them to the other side of the garden where the dogs couldn't see them.  They were so sweet.  And yes we know they will get in the garden but we can share. 

     

Wednesday 4/5 I had to go do bloodwork. Yahoo. Couldn't wait says no one.  I thought I was gonna walk out a quart low. She kept filling those test tubes.  Like 8 of them.  Good news is that when the results came back it was all in the normal range. Well the A1c was a little high but it keeps coming down. 72 pound weight loss is working.  Doc was happy with the new trend. I am too!  When I got home I had to do a zoom class for Joint replacement. That was fun. Not. Around 5:30 or so they say all dental work should done at minimum 30 days prior to surgery... Wait What?!!  I have a teeth cleaning in the morning in Houston.  Doctors office and Dentist office are closed now...... Crap.  While Driving to Houston I called the surgeon to finally get confirmation that I could not get my teeth cleaned. Luckily the hygienist is a cousin by marriage and I had texted her directly the night before that she may only be doing David's teeth and why.  Fun Fun. They at least got x-ray's of my teeth. 

That same evening I got a call from Joe saying he had to call an ambulance for my Mom. She had fallen out of the bar stool in the kitchen and he couldn't get her up.  He has been looking for an assisted living facility for her but he couldn't decide. The hospital is going to to help him decide because it's getting too much for him. Plus he's getting ready to get a pacemaker and he'll need eye surgery after the pacemaker is done. Yep the last 10 days have been crazy. I keep telling Joe I'll help the best I can but I'm limited in lifting because of my ribs and knee so he needs to get some in home health care because I'm dealing with my health and David. Plus the fact that I'm leaving town on the 16th

Now back to David. Friday 4/7 we went in the hospital for David's heart cath.  They did indeed go in and found the old stent was restricted and the artery was 90% blocked. They put in a balloon to expand the 2008 stent and inserted a new medicated stent. When David came back in the room he was not feeling well and was in a lot of pain.  He had reflux and his chest was hurting.  They started off thinking it was all the plavix they had given him and other meds but after giving him something for the reflux and then nitro under his tongue, plus ran a new EKG and they rushed him back to the OR. Okay things just got real scary for both of us. But before they rushed him out he got real sick. They told him to turn his head to the right and they were coming with bag.  I'm like umm I'm on his right so hurry up with that bag.  Nurse Becky made it just in time. The nurses that prepped him and the OR nurses were all GREAT.  Pamela was working upstairs and Nurse Chad kept her informed and me of what was happening.  They all kept making sure I was okay.  I wasn't gonna be okay until David was back in the room.  Finally they brought him back and it was the David I knew. He was wise cracking and made the nurses laugh.  Apparently the 600mg of Plavix  they shot him full of hadn't started working fast enough and a blood clot was trying to form in the new stent. They took care of it and he is on his way to recovery.  They had plugged the incision they made in the right groin area and couldn't go back in there and had to go back in on the left groin area.  He was pretty swollen until Sunday and he's still very black and purple all the way across between incisions.

He had to stay Friday (4/7) night and this is one time he didn't complain. He was too tired and sore to complain. I helped him escape Saturday by around 11 am.   

I'm not sure Joe fully understood the severity of the situation with David. To top it off Joe's surgery that was supposed to be on the Monday the 10th got rescheduled when I'm not in town. Things couldn't get more complicated.

Now let me tell you a funny part of David's excitement. When they first wheeled him into the OR the nurses and maybe the doctor were talking about getting dirt. David perked up and goes "Dirt".  How much and where did you get it?  LOL So they're talking a few yards. David goes I got y'all beat. I had like 1000+ yards trucked in to fill the furrows left by the tree farm that was on the property.  Oh Lordy this man and dirt.  The OR nurse Clayton came in to check on David after the 2nd go around and they talked about dirt and rocks again.  Pamela came down to check on her Daddy and looked at me like why are they talking about dirt and rocks. I just laughed and go "It's your dad"

Baylor Scott & White cardiology took great care of my man. And he kept them laughing. 

I get home around 8:30 and unload some groceries I picked up from the curbside after leaving David to rest at the hospital. Around 11 pm I'm getting ready for bed when I hear the cows bellowing. I knew that sound and it meant a calf wasn't where it was supposed to be.  I look out the front window and see a calf standing at the stairs by the front porch. Awesome and I'm by myself. I get my shoes back and I think to grab Bruno's loop leash to maybe use on the calf. After sloshing through water puddles in the yard and trying not to fall I got my chance. About 12:15 "Little Shit" was distracted by all the cows at the fence and I slipped the leash around it's neck. That's when the fun began but first I was gonna take the opportunity to pet this little fluff. Then I took two steps and tugged. Little Shit (her new name) would tug and dug in her hooves. It was two steps at a time. Once though she darted past me and I thought NO NO NO I don't want to fall and be drug around. I didn't fall. I didn't hurt my knee and my fractured ribs survived. LOL I got her to the gate to the pasture but trying to get her in and keep the cows behind the gate was another challenge but I won.  David would have been proud of me. Yeehaw cowgirls.

Monday 4/10, I went and spent some time with Mom. I had to tell her who I was and she goes "Really"

They had put a food tray there but she couldn't feed herself so I asked if she'd like something to eat and she said yeah. I got her to finish off  1 1/2 Jell-O cups and most of the mashed taters.  Her teeth don't fit her mouth these days so eating the cubed up chicken wasn't gonna happen. And I got her to drink about a 1/2 cup of iced tea.  I needed to head home since it was a 2 - 2 1/2 hour drive so I told her goodbye and that I'd come back and see her again soon. I bought her a soft pink bunny at the gift shop to keep her company until then.    I was almost home when Joe called to say they were transferring Mom to a short term care facility down the road around 7pm and it was 6:50 when he called.  

I have my pre-surgery consult on Friday 4/14 and then I'm going out of town on a quilt retreat that was booked last year. There's no refunds now.  I've been trying to coordinate with venue owner on some details around all the chaos.  The owner said she was having issues with her father in laws health and I told her I feel her pain.  I've got her trumped with the chaos around here. 

David is feeling pretty good today (4/11). He even went outside a couple times to get the mail and inspect the yard. 

Repeat ...You have to keep smiling. You have to keep smiling.

Until next blog post.... At some point you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening

 

New Life, food, wine and Mother Daughter Adventures

 So on Saturday 3/18 David went to Pamela's to help her pick out some roses to replace the ones she lost in the ice storms we had this year. I went down too but I stayed at the house with Kaleb and the twins. Our job was to pull weeds and have the beds ready for planting.  Towards the end of pulling the weeds I had bent over and twisted to the left grabbing a weed I missed and when I did I heard a pop and the pain shot through my back was horrible. Plus when I tried to straighten up my hoodie got caught on the rose bush and I couldn't stand up. Kaleb had just went inside to take the boys to the bathroom. So in my mind I'm going "Come back Kaleb Come back."  to the tune of Titanic of Come back Jack....  I spent the rest of the afternoon inside with the heating pad.

Our bull Ferdinand apparently found his mojo and we got our first calf in over a year. Yay.  

Monday 3/20, Sweet Tea #5 is the proud momma. Daddy Ferd checking out his work. LOL

While Sweet T was busy bringing in new life David found more new life on the farm out by the garden.  He almost stepped on this little bunny foo foo. And yes I know he'll eventually get in the garden and help him/herself but we'll have plenty to share. Well not yet.

We tried a new keto friendly recipe called a Taco Casserole.  It was pretty easy and tasty but we ended up eating tortilla chips with it. Not many but a few.

  On Wednesday 3/22 I went to hang with Pamela and get our nails done. After we got our nails done we got the call her dogs were ready to be picked up at the groomers. While Pamela went in to get her dogs I waited in the car but then I saw this and started laughing. This is the self bathing side of where her groomer has a shop. Cute receptionist wouldn't you say. The dog would pop up every time someone walked in to greet them. 

Thursday Morning 3/23 it was time to get the 10th annual Mother-Daughter trip to the Hill Country on the road. We always have lots of fun and try to try something new when we go. Our first stop this year was Georgetown for some lunch at the Blue Corn Harvest Bar & Grill.

Pamela had the enchiladas and I had some tacos. Food was really good. I couldn't eat all mine of course. 

We walked around the square and stopped at the Georgetown Winery. Enjoyed and the wine was nice. It was really windy outside.

Oh and this was a first... Pamela was driving. I was getting to ride in her new Red Honda Pilot. I enjoyed the heck out of this trip. LOL

We headed down the road to a winery called Perissos in Burnett, TX. This was a new path for us to get to Kerrville. Lots of pretty sights.  And nope I don't have a drinking problem. It's not a problem at all.  This is probably my 4th glass of wine I've had in a year.  And on this trip I limited my drinking to 2 glasses a day. Water was my drink mostly. I was on the trip to spend time with Pamela and see the sights.

Friday the 23rd we went to the Hill and Vine on Hwy 16 in Fredericksburg for brunch. Very tasty food. Next we went to the Luckenbach Road Distillery off 290. Where I had Lemonade with whiskey and Pamela has a margarita. It's all outdoors and the weather was perfect for sitting out. Our next stop was Blue Lotus Meadery in Hye.  We got our glass of wine and sat out on the patio. A little bit of a view. 

 

Our next stop was fun. It was the Rhinory. Pamela did a tasting and I had water. We got to see Blake the Rhino. He is 4 years old and lives at the winery.  The owners were on a trip to Africa and the day before they left, 2 white Rhinos were killed so they decided that 20% of the wine sales goes back to the Save the Rhino foundation and 100% of the merchandise goes back.
 Meet Blake. One the workers went out to love on Blake and get kisses.

Never thought of a Rhino being lovable like that. Pretty cool.

We had one last stop before having dinner and that was Fiesta Winery. Pamela did a tasting and I did have a glass of wine. 

Dinner was at Alamo Springs. We have since our first time there found shorter ways of getting there plus now we know Siri won't drop us off into the middle of nowhere. We shared a hamburger and some onion rings. So good but so much food. 

Saturday we started off at Singing Waters Winery outside Comfort, TX and had lunch there. Pamela had a small salad and we shared a charcuterie board. We listened to the music and enjoyed the scenery off the deck. 

We like to sit on the tree house deck but climbing the stairs was not an option this time.

Front here we drove back to Kerrville and went to Kerrville Hills Winery. The people here are always so nice. We sat inside here. The picnic tables were in the sun and you could hear the traffic off the hwy.  More relaxing inside.

Pamela wanted to go to the Dietz Distillery that was right next to Das Peach House next.  I tried a Raspberry Vodka drink and I forget what she tried now. She ended up drinking half of mine. It was more than I could handle.  They had a view of a lake off the deck that we sat on.  After finishing up we walked over to Das Peach House where you could buy jellies, sauces, etc. The wine section had stopped serving when we got there and that was fine. I came home with jelly and a bbq sauce for David to try.  It was getting late and we had dinner reservations at the Cabernet Grill off hwy 16.  You have to get your reservations made about 3 weeks prior. They fill up fast.

I got an appetizer called Jumbo Lump Crab Gratin and Pamela order the surf n turf.  She shared some steak with me and a couple shrimps. I walked out full but not too full.

We're such party animals when we're in the hill country.  We usually get back to the hotel by 8:30pm. LOL

Sunday 3/25 we packed up and headed to somewhere new to eat. We went to Pier 27 Lounge and 8 Ball Pizza on the Guadalupe River. It was a little chilly sitting outside but it warmed up when they opened up the awning and the sun shined down on us. It was still windy so we had to hold down our napkins. But the view was worth it.

We got away early enough that I took Pamela to one more winery closer to home called The Rising Sun Vineyard in McDade, TX. She liked this one. 

And before we knew it, it was time to head on home to meet David and Kaleb for dinner at Julio's in Rockdale.

So ends our 10th annual Mother Daughter Trip. It was awesome.

Now that I've bored you with wine and food I'll stop. Hope you enjoyed the trip.

Until next blog....