Winter of my Discontent

2/24/14


I know  in this time of my life  it is not unexpected to   lose a parent.   No one is really prepared for all that comes  with  the end of  a life.     I found myself  arguing with the hospice people to give Mom an IV.  "She needs  fluid"   I demand.    I get a blank look in return.   " I can accept  that she will die from cancer but it is ridiculous for her to die from  thirst  with a kitchen faucet   15 feet from her".       I still wasn't ready to let her go.    so we gave drops of water from straws and eyedroppers..  She wasn't going to die from neglect.   Dammit.     Finally  it occurs to me that  if her  body can't take in the fluid   we simply can't keep her alive.   I do arrive at the destination but it took me a long, long time  to figure it all out.  
 I blame the movies  On the big screen .Death  is always accompanied by a gentle  stringed instrument composition.   Whereas the soundtrack of  her life was less  elegant. It was  the frantic  reading of the Fantastic  Mr. Fox   by  my  24 year old niece  who thought  Mom shouldn't be listening to  TV in her last hours.   We all come to terms with death our own way.  I argue about it and my niece  dramatizes it.   My brother  calmly sits and waits for it to arrive.   Oddly enough  it was like   a  waiting room   in a train station and we didn't know  the time table for her  departure.




It's a month later.  The Memorial service is over.  The bills are rolling in and most are paid.   clothing and personal  items have  been distributed to loved ones


Quietly, slowly  and with painstaking care,   we close the chapter   on a life well lived  and much beloved.


Emily  Dickenson's  poem " A Bustle in the house"  has been   running through my head all month.


The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth,--

The sweeping up the heart,
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.       
  

January 10, 2012

December flew by  in is usual  sonic speed.   Baking, shopping and wrapping happened as it usually does.   Glenn flew home for  holiday leave from his ship  and picked up  the flu  on the way  but it really didn't appear until  Dec 23.     It spread like wildfire through the family.   Everyone  save  Kris and  our niece Gina   got ill.  

The big news for our Christmas was  a wonderful  Christmas surprise.   A trip to England for Kris and I  from our boys.      We are pouring through   guides and websites ordering catalogues  and brochures from  tour companies.

I'm been  lying low with this flu  for the last two weeks.    I've been knitting  to pass the time.

I'd love to share photos of my work  but   I'm unable to  put them up  due to new technological changes  on blogger.   

December 8, 2012

While Kris is  hunting  in Iowa,  I'm baking, knitting and wrapping  christmas surprises.

The sonic hats have been started.   two down and four to go.   

Last weekend  was the  cookie bake at Rachel's

this is what I brought to the  exchange:

this is what i brought home  most of it has been  sent to Ryan

Oscar has discovered the little window sills  in the kitchen.  He loves to watch the birdies outside.  sometimes  he meows at them.

November 7, 2012

Glenn came home for his leave.   He arrived fit as a fiddle  but  after a week at home he got ill  Bronchitis.   Poor Guy  he  was feeling really lousy for about  ten days .  we managed to get out for  a couple of movies   Argo  and the guys went to see Looper.  

we spent  the Saturday before he left  at the Minnesota Zoo.

Then he had to get going  east to report to his ship in Norfolk Va.  I rode with  him as far as  Chicago.  We stayed overnight with  my parents and he  headed to  Columbus, ohio and then to stayed in Greensboro  NC  to wait out  the Hurricane.    I stayed with my parents for a week.  Glenn reported in  on Oct 31.   He has an apartment and is rooming with another nuke. 

I finished a hat for our nephew   Trenton  adn another  Everdeen beanie  in madeline tosh dk.

October 12, 2012

Another  bright and sunny fall day for Glenn to enjoy on his leave.   Our sailor is home for  three weeks and enjoying  the crisp October weather.

It's nice to have our nest fill up   even if it is for a short time.

It's I love Yarn Day!

I've finished bear #3  for the Gilligan's Island Bears for the Motherbear project.

I'm trying out a new yarn  Unforgettable by  Red heart  Boutique  using the  Everdeen beanie  pattern

I'm back

Monday,  September 24, 2012

Back in the blogiverse.    Life got  busy   we traveled to  Washington DC,   and Chicago  went to  high school graduations for a niece and a nephew.  visited  Chicago for 4th of July. 

I knit  8 bears, 5 monsters, 7 pairs of mittens  10  hats all for charity.  won a couple of blue ribbons at the county fair.   and we got a new cat  I've named Oscar Wilde. 

I've read  lots of books  just finished  All Roads  lead to Austen.   it was a fun read  I recommend it for all fans of Miss Austen's works.  

I've been knitting ruffle scarves

my latest charity project is   from a patern in  Mason-Dixon knitting.  It's a traveling blanket.   one person knits the first round and passes on to another knitter.    pretty fun way to  make a baby blanket

 I got obsessed with making can cozies from dishcloth yarn this summer.   I love playing with  dishcloth cotton  and made a ton of these

last week  I finished a hat and a sweater for a friend's one year old   his parents are  serious Washington Redskins  fans

Huddle hat

summer's over and fall is here. In my refrigerator,  watermelon and sweet corn have made way  for apples and squash

Update

March 27,2012

It's been a while since  I've posted to my blog.   We've had a busy couple of months.   We have bought new bedroom furniture. from IKea  and it's fantastic.   I've been knitting bears for motherbear project inspired from Downton Abbey.