Happy Day!!!

We had a lovely day yesterday! The weather was perfect- the kind of day that makes you so very glad that you live in Florida.  Our first excursion was to Disney World- our first trip into the parks since John got sick last year. It is Flower and Garden Festival in Epcot World Showcase, so naturally that was our goal. We made it all the way around, with stops at several of the countrys' food kiosks for things not usually available. We got tired- I'm almost as out of shape as he is- but we made it. 

Next stop was back in Tampa Palms where we had dinner at Red Lobster. It is Lobsterfest season, so I went straight for the 2 lobster tails, and enjoyed it very much! John experimented with the lobster pizza- he loved it not so much. Ok, but not to be ordered again.  

  We finished the evening with more of season 2 of Inspector Lewis. We did all of Inspector Morse a couple years ago on Netflix, and we recently did all the available Endeavours on Amazon. Now it's time to get back to Robbie. I love his character and I am absolutely fascinated with James Hathaway. For dessert, during Lewis, there was Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche- my very favorite. 

It was a lovely day. A year ago it would have been a lovely day, but a "normal" day. Now, a day like this is a bit extraordinary; there was much doubt, relatively recently, whether days like this were going to happen again.  So, it was a special, lovely day, mostly because it was normal!!!

About my quilting....

I just found this! I wrote it more than a month ago but didn't realize until just now that it never posted. Oh, well, better late than never!

So, time for a quilting post.  I love Hawaiian quilts. I love all the traditions around Hawaiian quilts. I love the technique of making Hawaiian quilts. I love my Hawaiian quilting teachers in Honolulu. I love everything about Hawaiian quilts. 

  I currently have 4 Hawaiian quilts at various points in the appliqué process. There is a green and purple interwoven lei quilt, supposed to represent the island of Kauai, that has the appliqué almost finished. There is a light green background with brown honu (turtles) that is about 1/2 way done, and a dark green with an orangey-red anthurium that is barely started.  

I also have my treasure- my 45x45 inch wall hanging that was designed, just for me, by John Serrao. I am working on all these others to get my skills to the point that this one deserves. It is taking a long time, but I am enjoying the process. One of these days I'll do a post about Hawaiian quilts.

                   

 Teresa

So how, you ask, is my yarn work going?

It's spring. Which here in Florida means summer weather- or, at least what those further north think of as summer. So, there is not a lot happening with me and yarn.

I have three yarn projects started, not finished, and put aside- most of the time I just don't do yarn when it's really warm. And, it's ok that I am having trouble uploading pictures- they are all gifts, so they have to stay secret. One is crochet and 2 are loom knitting and I'm pretty happy with 2 of the 3. It's quite possible I'll tear the third one out and start over sometime in the fall.

I am doing one yarn thing right now- I am testing a crochet doll pattern. When I finish her, and the designer gives permission, I'll certainly be posting a picture.

So, here is a post in which I tell you very little, and show absolutely nothing. Just that kind of day. 😊




Teresa

Time for some crafty stuff

Hello! I've been keeping really busy with taxes and other stuff, so I think it's time for a crafty post.

I have, as usual, a ton of projects going on at the same time. I'm not going to list all of them- that would scare a few people, potentially myself included. So, here is my first update.

In cross stitch, I have 2 projects going that I can't discuss as they are gifts and surprises and I never know who might be reading here. I'm getting a new project kitted up and ready- "Let Freedom Ring", a Philadelphia sampler.

I bought this beautiful sampler a few years ago from my longtime "local crossstitch shop", The Strawberry Sampler, in Chadds Ford.

http://www.strawberrysampler.com

I'm going to make a few alterations, but I do think it is lovely. I'm looking forward to it someday hanging in the living room here in Florida as a reminder of our up north home.

Turns out the title "Let Freedom Ring" is very popular, as are Philadelphia samplers. This year I bought another sampler from TSS during the annual Super Bowl sale; same title, similar looking, and very lovely.

My stitching friend down here, Anna Williamson, is encouraging all the Florida stitchers to get pieces entered in the State Fair next year. I'm going to try to finally, FINALLY (like I started it sometime less than 20 years ago, but not by a lot) finish Shepherd's Bush's Road to Bethlehem. It's been put away forever, but it popped up in a crate that came down here last fall. So, maybe, just maybe, If everything goes well, I will have something for the fair next year. 

So, that's where my cross stitch life is currently. Quilting, crochet and loom knitting updates soon.

ETA: for whatever reason, I can't get this to post with pictures. 😡

Teresa

Happy Day!!

We are headed down I-75 on a really beautiful day! It feels so great to be doing something so normal as to visit friends.

Originally we were supposed to go to lunch with one of my high school classmates and her husband, but she got sick and was leary about being around John. That's so thoughtful, and, sadly, still necessary. He is now allowed to do a lot more things but being around someone with a cold or the flu is most definitely not one of them. So our lunch date is postponed.

Dinner and the rest of the weekend is still on. Tonight is a belated St. Patrick's Day party with my lifetime friends from Toms River. Since I moved down here, every trip to Punta Gorda has been terrific fun. We joke and laugh and when I close my eyes it could be 50 years ago. It is such a wonderful blessing to have a whole group of friends that you've shared most of your life with. But the best is that John can do this. He can go visit and be with friends. We can do something this normal!

So, it is, other than feeling bad for Sandy being sick, a happy day!

Today is tough

When my husband's "brother from another mother" Rick Leek died 3 years ago, it was shattering. In many ways.

I found an app that tells me every year when Rick's Yahrzeit is. Like the way we Catholics will have a mass said for a departed loved one on the anniversary of their death, in Jewish tradition you light a candle for a departed loved one on the date each year of Yahrzeit. Like the rest of the Jewish calendar, that date changes from year to year. Today is Yahrzeit for Rick.

We miss you Ricky, so very much. Your candle is burning and you are remembered. 

A New Beginning

Welcome! This is my new blog. It comes at an exciting time- we are through the valley of darkness that was most of the last year and headed into a new life. Hopefully it will be much like the old life, but we will appreciate it more.

The rapid summary: my dearest husband was diagnosed last year with an uncommon, and uncommonly aggressive, type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Months of chemo was followed by a stem cell transplant. It was too dreadful to describe adequately. The transplant itself was a success, and now we wait to see if it was successful in permanently eliminating the lymphoma.

The first PET scan, done 2 weeks ago, showed no cancer. When John asked if that meant he was cured, the doctor said "no, but it means you are on the right road. We won't talk about 'cures' for a couple of years yet." So we are "on the right road".

That road is going to include being more active and more grateful than ever as we go forward. We want to get back to the very happy life we had before he got sick, and we want to enjoy even more.

This is not going to be a blog about my husband's illness, or my ongoing medical issues. This is going to be a blog about life and all the things we enjoy. So there will be golf, travel, photography, scrapbooks, eating, cooking, crochet, needlework, Disney World, quilts, music, books, puzzles, the Jersey shore and our beloved "little house" in the summer, the pool and the rest of our mostly wonderful community in winter, our travel plans as we see more of the world- all the many, many things which interest us and which enrich our lives. I hope you will enjoy the journey with us.