My sister, Barbara, died at Noon today. I will be away for a few days. Thank you so much for your kind words and friendship. It means more to me than you will ever know.

The Drought

It seems I've been in a drought here in NE TN. Actually, we have had some rain, but word-wise, I really do seem to be bereft of words these days. Our computer has been repaired and is working much better now. Some friends in Rogersville recommended this young man to work on it, and oh how lucky we feel to have found Adam. He's our computer guru now. :) It's been a couple of busy weeks, fun, but busy and for someone who's thyroid is off again, quite exhausting. But the major block I'm facing right now is that my sister, Barbara, who hasn't been well for a long time, took a major turn for the worse over the weekend and we were preparing to say goodbye. They have her stabilized now. That heightened degree of panic and grief strangles. At the same time, I have a nephew who has been in intensive care for a couple of weeks now. What should have been a fairly routine and non-life-threatening surgical procedure (my understanding of it anyway) has turned into a true nightmare for my family. I just found out that they airlifted him from a local hospital to University of Virginia Medical Center. My updates with family members has been "it doesn't look good" for almost two weeks now, but it seems that he has worsened. I know that all of us face, sooner or later, that crippling state of fear and helplessness. As if all of the above isn't enough, I didn't share with you that one of my brothers-in-law died the latter part of May. You know, sometimes this business of LIVING and of DYING can be all-consuming.

Computer Woes and Some Major Fun

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are having some rather major computer difficulties right now, and I probably won't be on it much for a while (no surprise there....this woman just falls off the face of the earth for months at a time anyway LOL). Well, anyway, the computer bit the dust (completely, I thought) day before yesterday. So we got the name of someone who was able to come and check things out for us last night. Lord, the boy was here for 2 and half hours. I was sure the computer was toast. However, he said we have a major lack of capacity for what we are doing (and want to do) on this computer. So he cleared out lots of stuff and got us back up and running---for a while---with cautions to only have ONE window open at any given time. ONE? ONLY ONE? This to a girl that has at least 6 going at all times if she's on here; well, I do have to have a constant check of the weather, and of course, CNN, and of course, my favorite blogs, which usually lead me to NEW blogs....so you get the picture of my bottom tray on the computer, right? :) So the best solution for me is for me to just stay gone until we have this issue resolved. You see, day before yesterday I had gone out and picked up two 1-gig flash drives to move my photos onto. I just happened to have filled those two puppies up, thought, hmmm, 1 gig wasn't NEARLY as much space as I thought, so I went online and ordered each of us a Portable External Hard Drive with LOTS of space. It was at this crucial juncture that the computer completely moaned, groaned, and ground to a screeching halt, saying NO MORE, LADY, I'M DONE!! *Feverishly rubbing my brow cause I KNOW my DH is going to THINK (note here, NOT say LOL) that 'she's torn something up again'. ROFL Now, he swears he does not think that, but.....well, I still have my suspicions. *grins* Sooooo, this wonderful computer fella says to call him when my HUGE gigabyte PEHDs arrrive and he will come back and install some more ram on this thing, and transfer a bunch of stuff for us, etc. *HUGE Sighs and grunts of gratitude here for that young man!!!) We received notice this afternoon that the PEHDs have been shipped. Yeee Haaa!! Now, I have spent this day with my delightful Hannah and Maggie. They took me to Bulls Gap, TN, to the Amish (or is it Mennonite?) store there called "Yoders". Oh. MY. Goodness!! Did I love that store or WHAT!!! Sug, I have bread to share with you! :) THEN, Hannah says, hey Ange, do you want to go to the quilt shop that's here???? HELLOOOOO??? Quilt Shop? You bet, sistah, drive on, James!!! :) Wonderful, that's what my Hannah is!!! She really is the most wonderful chosen family one could have!!! We signed up for a seasonal banner class for August 12 to make the most darling October banner! CAN NOT WAIT!!! (And Hannah thinks she's not a 'quilter'....ah hmmm, she may not be YET ;) Then back to Hannah's house for some bread, butter, and knitting. Pam, another new friend, called and we told her to come on over, so we spent a bit of time with her, then Pam and I bailed out of there (I started this day with Hannah at 10:20 a.m. and left there at 5:10ish) in time for Hannah to scoot on up the road to Kingsport for a Pampered Chef meeting. (I did request that Hannah Rose bottle some of that energy that woman has and share it with me!!!) I had a WONDERFUL day! Thank you bushels, Hannah Rose and Maggie Mae! And it was all pleasure getting to see you again, Pam! Until Friday (knittin' class *grins*).....

YaYas Running Around

Momma and Baby Bambii

I started yesterday morning off by leaving home at 8:45 a.m. to meet a friend who was taking me to the local quilt guild. It was my first trip there, and they were having a special meeting as well as a Funky Chicken wallhanging class after the meeting. I didn't stay for the class...had other plans already made and laid. It was a fun bunch of women in that guild, and I think I may go again. :) Met Hannah Rose and Maggie Mae at Noon and headed off to Jubilee Gallery for lunch and meeting of new friends, Pam and Maryanne, and a surprise in the shape and look of my seester, Sug! :D We did make merry for several hours at the restaurant, then some of us parted ways, and Hannah, Maggie and I followed Pam up to her house, as she had so graciously invited us to see where she lived so that I could come and pick blackberries to my heart's content. :) Thank you so much, Pam, for your generous invitation! :) I didn't get home until around 4:30 p.m. It was a lovely, lovely YaYa Sisterhood kinda day, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Pam and Maryanne, and spending time with sweet Hannah Rose and Maggie Mae (Maggie is Hannah's 12 year old daughter, BTW), and I always love being with my seester. Of course, I had to include some Bounty from Nature's Landing.

FINALLY! A STORM DOOR

Oh. my. goodness! I've had this new storm door since my birthday!!! Yes!! That would be since February 26! And it was installed for me TODAY!! Do I love it, or what!!! :D But I REALLY felt bad for the guys that put it up for me. The fella that poured our concrete last Summer came by the other day. I casually asked if he knew of anyone that would put up a storm door for me. He called last night to tell me he couldn't pour concrete today, so he and his son would come over the install the door. He said "it shouldn't take too long"----yeah, right, FAMOUS LAST WORDS! ROFL He may NEVER come back to Ships Landing EVER again for ANYTHING! ROFL They were here by 9:15 a.m. and didn't leave until 2:15 this afternoon. I really really felt bad about how long it took for them to get the door installed. Poor fella, he said he didn't even know they made them that you had to actually BUILD the door before you could hang it. But they did get it up....and they did an absolutely wonderful job of it!! I will forever be indebted and grateful to Dennis and Eddie.

Happy 4th of July

Hope everyone has a safe and absolutely wonderful 4th of July....lots of hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon.......yum! :D

RAIN!

We FINALLY got RAIN on Saturday! Oh my goodness, I was beside myself, I was so excited! Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day, and I spent it with Sug and Freddie (my seester and BIL) at their place in the country. We had a lovely day together. :)

Now I'm looking forward to slightly cooler temps that we're being promised for this week so I can avail myself of the first photo. ;D

Hot, Humid June--Where is Spring?

Yucca plant in bloom

No cooking, no sewing, no porch-sitting-----tooooo HOT!!! One wonders how these little baby Swallows can stand the heat in those birdhouses!!! Now, our own resident Kermit has the right idea--- he's spending his days under the cool shade of the coleus leaves (of little plants that are awaiting a permanent home, either in the ground or in a pot).

Hope everyone is staying cool in this August heat we're having in early June! I'm sending envious thoughts to my friends in Wisconsin and those other northern states that are getting all of the rain. You have too much....we have too little. *sigh* It's dry as a dustbowl here! :/

Happy Mother's Day

I finally heard back about the CT scan and echocardiogram that I had done....no blockages! Most excellent news! :) I do have irregular heart beat, but I can live with that. :)

Hope everyone has a lovely Mother's Day!

Columbine
Pinks
Salvia with Gaillardia
Irises
Sunset

Post Op Report

Randy is doing great. It was no where near as extensive as it was 12 years ago. We are both relieved to have that part behind us. He even slept last night, which we didn't expect, since he's partially propped up to sleep. Of course, he doesn't feel like a million bucks, and won't for a while, but he is certainly not feeling (nor looking) nearly as bad as we were prepared for. His activities are a bit restricted insofar as heavy lifting or anything too strenuous for a month. He sees the doctor again in 3 weeks. I ended up postponing my appt with the heart specialist since I was at the hospital with him. I had asked that someone call me about my test results, but that didn't happen yesterday, so if I don't hear from them by mid-day today, I'll call and reschedule the office appt. See, the way I feel about it is if there had been something serious going on they would have already called me. Since they haven't, my thoughts are they really would like to have that $422 office visit fee. No wonder this country is going to hell in a hand basket---no one except the 'rich' can afford those kinds of fees, and it really riles me that if you can't afford to have insurance you don't see a doctor. It's criminal---well actually, I guess the powers that be can look at it like a new form of population control. The majority of the people in this country don't have insurance, can't afford the insurance OR the doctor's fee, so therefore they don't get the care they need. Hence, a new form of population control. Sorry for the minor rant there. I get like this when I have to deal with some of the 'professionals'.

Happy, Happy May Day!

Wow, can one of you out there in blogland please explain to me how we've gone from Christmas to May Day in such a rush???? :D Well, never mind, it is what it is....and it IS May Day! And yes, thank you very much, it's been an absolutely gorgeous day here at Ships Landing and I've been outside ALL DAY LONG!!! Oh, my most favorite place in the whole wide world to be! :D

Hello World, won't you come on in...

and I'll fill you in on this long blog gap of mine. :)

My dear, dear friend, Finn, sent me the most delightful 'mailbox sunshine', and it could not have come at a more welcome time! Imagine my utter surprise and delight when I found this little package in my mailbox! :) She sent me my very own Finn-created rag rug coaster!!! :) And yummy cherry chocolate M&Ms (I had no idea they even made cherry chocolate M&Ms) :), and this wonderful book---thank you so very much, my dear Finn! (Give Mz. Ebbie hugs for me)

Now, on to the yuck stuff---it's all been just a mess of medical appts and such boring stuff that I've not had the interest in sharing it. :/ In a nutshell, Randy has been dealing with more medical issues, and is now scheduled for sinus surgery next Tuesday (May 6), and I've just had a round of tests yesterday through the cardiologist. In my case, it's just a 'hurry up and wait' game now. All of this heart hoopla was brought about due to my irregular heart beat and extreme fatigue. My MD wanted me to see a cardiologist to make sure there were no 'hidden' issues. So, I'm going on with my regular 'rat killin' and diggin' holes in the yard, LOL, and they can call me if they (being doctors) need to tell me I'm on the verge of dropping. ROFL

Dewey seems to have pulled out of the kidney problem, but he's having a horrible time getting around now. His front legs are barely working for him, and the vet had mentioned that he has a problem with his back in the neck area. Poor little fella is just going from one struggle to another. And of course Badger's back is flaring up again....of course it is, we're going into the first week of May, aren't we? :/ As much as I love Spring, I always dread the first week of May every year since 2002 cause Badger always ends up with a disc going on him and spending 4-6 weeks crated. Soooooo, how many of you out there in blogland want to come spend some time at Ships Landing Hospital and Rehab Center? ROFLLLL

I have been spending ALL of my waking hours outside.....no surprise there, right? *g* We've been having the most wonderful weather...until today, and the morning temp was 36, and it's slated for a freeze tonight. Of Course, I've already bought some annuals to plant, but thank goodness, I've been holding off, waiting for May to put them in the ground. Last night I was outside dragging the hems of my 'loungejay' britches through the rain-wet grass, in the dark, trying to find those little pots that I had scattered throughout the beds, to bring them on the porch, where they will stay for a few days now.

I must must call my seester, Flan, and make sure no tornadoes landed on their house last night. Flan, are you and Jay safe??? I just read online this a.m. about the tornadoes there in the Richmond area. I'll call you later today. :)

So, there you have it in a nutshell, my family and friends, the fun happenins at Ships Landing. :)

I just read through the comments on my last post, and thank you -all of you--for your kind comments and prayers for my furkids!!! You will never know just how much that touches my heart! All of my blogging 'family' have become such a part of my life in such a special way in such a short time, and I feel bad that I'm not posting very often right now. I will, I will, soon, I promise, but thank you sooo much for hanging in there with me for the time being, during these medical messes. 'This too shall pass', and please, can it be soon??? ROFL PSS--I've actually done some needleturn applique the last TWO nights! Wooohooo! :D