STILL CATCHING UP

I was trying to remember everything to write  about and I forgot one of the most important.  Erik, Debbie and Kent came to Sequim on Saturday, January 14th.  It was going to be the last time I got a chance to see Erik before he goes on his Mission.  They had not been over since the downstairs was done.  We went to see Marge and Harry so Debbie could meet Harry and congratulate them on their upcoming wedding.  We had a nice visit.  We had lunch at the Chinese Garden.  I am  so glad they came on Saturday because it started snowing on Sunday.

Of course we all know that things got really bad before all the snow and ice was over.

HUMMING BIRD FEEDER

Even though there is a lot of snow and it has been very cold, I have a Hummingbird that comes everyday to the feeder.  The last few days he has been coming by three or four times.  We have not had it bad here.  I, of course, do  not go out into the snow.  Donna and laif went to the store today and I had them get me a couple of things.  We have a lot of snow but we have not lost power and so far have not  had the really icy conditions that I have been watching on the news.  Dan said he has been without power for a day and a half.  Debbie, who is in Connecticut, says they do not have power at their house.  Hopefully it will be restored before she comes back tomorrow.

WINTER IS HERE - NOT MY FAVORITE SEASON

I know I have not written on my blog since the middle of December. My last post was about my quilt. I will try to fill in what has been happening and try to keep up with things from now on. David came down from Ketchikan before Thanksgiving. The weather was good all through the time he was here until he got ready to go back to Renton on January 15th to get ready to get his plane on Tuesday, the 17th. He had a 7am flight to Ketchikan and Debbie had a 7am flight to Connecticut. They got to the airport OK and I have talked to David twice since he got back. Anyway, since the weather had been good, I was able to go to the Troller's Expo in Seattle with him and I even got to sit in on his meeting. One of his friends told me I should be very proud of him because he has done so much to help the Trollers. We were able to visit some of his friends around Port Townsend too.


I will backtrack now and fill you in on what was happening with David and me. On Thursday, December 22nd, David and I went to Debbie's for the Christmas Eve finale. We took my car with David being my chauffer, of course. Debbie had her usual very nice Christmas Eve party. We had a great time.

Now the trama part--David got very sick with the flu on Christmas Day. We were staying at Debbie's until Wednesday anyway so I could go to the Temple for Erik. By Wednesday David was OK so we took off in the morning to go back to Sequim. I was feeling just fine Wednesday and we had a good trip back to Sequim.

On Thursday, December 29th, I got sick early in the morning. I was so sick I could not eat or drink anything which turned out to be bad. I dehydrated and about 6pm I was in the bathroom and I remember yelling for David and I passed out. David called 911 and they took me to the hospital in Port Angeles. David said my face was whiter than my hair. Anyway, as soon as they put the IV on me in the ambulance I started doing Ok. I was just in the emergency for a couple of hours. I was sick with a fever for 4 days but now I am fine.

Donna and Laif had gone to Portland and then to Pullman so they missed all the Trama and the flu germs.

Now for some good news--Last night, January 17th, Marge Otte and Harry Thompson got married at the Fifth Avenue Senior Living Center. It was just a small gathering. The activity director's husband is a Minister. It was such a joy to see them get married. They both looked very happy.

Talking about Wedding Bells--My son Richard is getting married on February 18th. Richard and his fiance, Joan, came to Sequim, Monday, Martin Luther King Day so we could meet her. The 16th is also Richard's birthday. Joan seems like a very nice person. She is a registered Nurse. They are going to get married in Spokane where Joan's sister lives.

AT LAST--MY NEW QUILT IS FINISHED

You can tell that I love bold colors. Donna and I spent many hours on this quilt. In the picture below I pulled up the edge of the quilt so that you can see the reverse side. The quilt looks so much nicer using this material instead of muslin.

Other than getting through Thanksgiving and other things that go along with this season, everything is going well. I did go to a nice dinner party that my home teachers invited me to. There were just people they home teach. It was a nice gathering.

David will be back from Alaska tomorrow. We will be going over to Debbie's for Christmas Eve. My car once again will have to cross the water and go on the freeway. David is a good driver so I trust we will be fine.

QUILTING RETREAT AND MORE

This is the new quilt top I made at the quilting retreat with Donna's help. The quilt will probably not be done until after the first of the year. We have to have space to set up the quilting frame. It will give us something to do after the holidays are over. David is here now and except for a couple of trips back to Alaska, he will be here until the middle of January. Thanksgiving will be wall to wall people. It will be fun. I like living this way much better than being in an Assisted Living Center. My sister, Elsie, loves living in her Assisted Living center in Lake Stevens. Those places are made for people like her.
Now on to other happenings. We were coming back from the Quilting Retreat on Sunday, Nov.6th. I had decided we could use my new car to go to the retreat. It was dark when we were getting back and we heard a rock hit the car. It did not really sound that bad but the next morning there was a large crack in the windshield. I just bought the car in July so that was upsetting. We got the glass replaced at the Auto glass place here in Sequim. I only had a $50. deductable on my insurance. This is only the second new car I ever bought. My other new car was the Kia Rio. It was only a little over two months old when it had a mishap. In November we had a bad wind storm that year and half our roof blew off the house. I always parked the car in the garage but I had to park it in the carport because we needed the driveway to the garage for the big dumpster to put all the shingles, etc in. We had a very icy New Year's eve that year and during the night someone took out part of our chain-link fence and part of the fence fell on the side of the car. It left a huge scratch that had to be fixed. Body work is so expensive but the insurance covered most of it. Then after we moved to Merrill Gardens my Kia was parked in their parking garage and a lady backed into it. Not a lot of damage but it did have to have body work again. All the eight years I drove the Kia I did not even get one ding in my windshield though.
Donna and Laif bought an auxilary heat pump for the downstairs. The installers came yesterday. One person put the unit in and the other was the electrician who had to do all the wiring. Yesterday was a miserable, cold day. It poured rain from time to time making it worse. Anyway, the guys were supposed to be here at 8am and were not able to get here until about 10:30. When Donna ordered the unit they said it would take 3 hours to install it but it ended up taking almost 6 hours. They had problems with wiring for one. The guy who was installing the unit had to leave for awhile because he had an appointment at 1pm. The truck he had was a large and tall truck. He drove it down the driveway so he wouldn't have to carry the units so far. When he was going back up the driveway he took out some of the the trim from the house that hangs over which was a pretty good size piece. I think I saw two big pieces on top of the garbage can. Donna said he was just about a quarter of an inch from taking out the gutter. Of course, they are going to fix it. He says it will look just like new when it is done. I hope so. Donna and Laif were not too happy about it. David missed all the excitement. I was going to go with him to see one of his friends in Port Haddock but I didn't want to go because the weather was so miserable so I just let him use my car.
The happy ending to yesterday is that everything is working great and it is so comfortable downstairs I can hardly believe it. This auxilary heat pump is supposed to take very little electricity. Last winter I just wore sweaters and used my electric throw to keep my legs and feet warm. I'm not even wearing a sweater now.
I think I will even be able to raise the dough for Cinnamon rolls downstairs, which I found out people are expecting me to make for Thanksgiving.

QUILTING RETREAT

Donna and I are leaving for the Quilting Retreat Friday. My arm is still bothering me quite a bit but I am still excited about going. David is down from Ketchikan and is staying with Debbie and Kent. We will be picking him up Sunday on our way back from the Retreat. I have been doing some reading on "Distal biceps tendon rupture". I am doing my best to exercise my arm. Turning my arm so that my palm is upward is painful right now. As far as I can tell from reading I will never have full strength in my arm. I wasn't planning on signing up for Tennis anyway so I guess everything will work out. I have a bruise right over my bicep area. I did not hit my arm on anything. My muscle is bruised on the inside but shows on my arm.

We are going to drive my car to the Retreat. I guess I should use it some. It is 218 miles to the Retreat. The Retreat is at the Best Western Parkersville Inn is in Washougal, WA. It is on the Washington side of the Columbia River aways from Vancouver, WA.

BOTTOM PICTURE--ME IN A SLING

I got my new desk and my new recliner Thursday. Today I decided I wanted my floor lamp by my new recliner so I managed to get myself into trouble. The outlet is behind the desk and I was having trouble plugging it in and I stretched my left arm so far trying to plug the lamp in that I heard a snap in my arm and immediately had terrible pain when I tried to move my arm. Donna took me to the emergency room of the hospital in Port Angeles. I have a Distal biceps tendon rupture. I need to wear this sling for a few days. My arm hurts anytime I move it. I did get pain pills. My arm will heal on its on and as soon as possible I will have to work on my range of motion but I am supposed to rest it for 2or 3days. Fortunately it was my left arm.

I don't really like the lamp that I have by the chair and will be getting a better looking one later. I think I will let someone help me plug it in.

Our quilting retreat is next weekend and also David is coming in from Ketchikan next week too so my arm better get better soon.