Countrymouse Posted November 2018
On My Mind
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Replacing the much lamented 'On My Mind' profile option, this thread is for musings, jottings, whimsies, preoccupations and the rest of the thesaurus for anyone to jot down anything they please.
I can't remember what the maximum character count was before, can anyone else? But anyway it wasn't very many so let's keep to that.
The material for ‘pretty’ quilted side is only the first expense. Fat quarters cost more than simple yardage! The fabric backing is special extra-wide fabric (sometimes a high-quality large sheet), and the batting layer in between (the stuffing for warmth) is also a special extra wide expensive exercise. For a quilt, all three layers are stitched together, either by hand (a very awkward job) or on a special sewing machine that allows such a large article to fit under the presser foot. The stitching itself is an art form, not straight up-and-down. Here there are a couple of women who have the big machines and can do it for you, and it costs $$$. Of course both of them are heavies in the Quilting Club. The actual paid-out costs for a bed-sized quilt are between $500 and $1000, without putting any value on the unpaid work of quilting the ‘pretty’ front layer. It’s very different from the old pioneer ‘quilting bee’ using second hand fabric scraps.
It’s like a lot of craft. When I was a child, DIY craft was a way of saving money. Now most crafts are a way of spending money, and often a lot of it. Yes, the ‘pretty’ side or a quilt is often very attractive, but in my mind it is still about ‘ cutting perfecting good fabric into small pieces and then stitching it back together’.
I know a woman who does volunteer quilting with her church group. It’s one of their ministries. They do baby quilts that are lovely. The mothers love the quilts.
You’re right about how much people will spend on craft projects.
One of my friends spends an absolute fortune on scrapbooking!
I don’t know how she isn’t broke buying all of her supplies. She has a craft room, plus a closet filled up.
Her cards are beautiful but she goes overboard with spending.
She makes all sorts of things with her Cricut machine.
I have been shopping with her and I would not want to be paying for her credit card bills.
The squirrels are so cute and busy little creatures!
I absolutely loved all of the Beatrix Potter books as a child. I read all of them to my children when they were young.
I really enjoy watching all of the birds too. I started giggling because I suddenly remembered a time when my dad ran into the house looking uneasy.
A blue jay was protecting her nest and attacked my dad! She swooped down and chased him off. He was quite unnerved by his encounter with this bird.
I often think about this. I think if we live long enough (and of course switch husbands often enough) we live lives entirely divorced from one another. We are quite simply different people at different times.
I think you are getting exhausted with something; I hope you take time for yourself just to do something ALONE that you love, whether going to a Museum, gardening, knitting, taking a few days alone at a motel where you watch TV and eat stuff that's bad for you.
Thinking of you.
I used to be a much happier person. I hope I find my way back.
Work well worth it .
But you will also find out it will be different in some ways . You will view some things differently . Perhaps some priorities are rearranged, shift a bit . Some old interests remain , some new interests may appear , some things don’t feel as important anymore . But that’s ok too. It’s a new chapter of life .
Not just see things differently about your own family .
I now see other things differently .
I’ve learned to let more go . I learned to look for peace rather than trying to be the fixer. It was hard , because I was raised to be the fixer ..
venting ((((hugs))). Only you can reclaim or rebuild your life. It's easy for some of us to get lost in the problems of others. You matter. You are as important as any one else, including those demanding seniors. You can put yourself and your needs and wants first. Start with baby steps and do something good or fun for you regardless of what others want from you. If you were hit by a bus they would manage - believe me, they would. You are not essential to their welfare. But you are essential to your own welfare.
hothouse ((((((hugs))))) for you too. Can you change anything in your situation to take some of the pressure off you? Like with venting and all of us - you are important too. Your needs should be met. Your peace of mind matters. When something hurts us it's time to make a change. Easier said than done, I know, but sometimes we have to work hard and even fight for ourselves. Others may be unhappy but's that's their problem.
nacy - glad you are on a better path - it's so freeing!!!!
way - you too - Giving up fixing is a hard lesson but so worth it!
Peace to all!!!! 🕊
But seeing the bigger picture of how the world is and what you want out of life after caregiving is worth it . Peace is what I want most , including within myself .
Take care. Keep Venting. We're here.
"Here we sits like birds in the wilderness..."
I often feel like a bird in the wilderness waiting for??? Currently for my house to sell, but it could be any number of things.
"Oh, it ain't gonna rain no more, no more
It ain't gonna rain no more
How in the heck can I wash around my neck
if it ain't gonna rain no more?"
Seems to be a bit of a waiting song too.
"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes. She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes...
Talk about repetition. But life seems like that at times.
Did you do the one about a Ford?
It went:
I got a little ole pile of tin,
Nobody knows what shape it's in.
Got 4 wheels and a running board,
It's a Ford ,Oh it's a Ford.
Honk honk ,rattle ,rattle ,rattle ,crash,beep,beep
Honk.honk.rattle,rattle.rattle crash beep beep
Honk ,honk rattle rattle rattle beep,beep.
Honk-honk.
I loved going to Girl Scout camp every summer,when I was a kid.....
A l o n g time ago~
lu - quite a few more. I don't know the Ford one but I can already hear it in my head!
The Bear went over the mountain
Camp Grenada - Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh (after my camping time but great song)
Down by the Riverside
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
The Happy Wanderer
Kumbaya
Peanut Butter (Toot toot)
Kookaburra
Dem Bones
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
There’s a Hole in the Bucket
The Hokey Pokey
and more
Lots of fun!!!
Oh it was sad, Lord, Sad,
Oh it was sad, Lord, Sad,
It was sad when that great ship when DOWN.....
to the bottom of the................
Husbands and wives
Little children lost their lives...........
It was sad when that great ship went down.
Dating ourselves here.
I remember "What in Sam Hill." Looked it up and Sam Hill stands for the devil or h3ll personified.
Does anyone remember "Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air Pollution, pollution" Tom Lehrer
Make New Friends
White Coral Bells
I Like the Flowers
Ho Young Rider (interesting one, Slavic origin)
And there was the "Canoe Paddle Song" (which has several variations in the lyrics):
My paddle's keen and bright,
Flashing like silver,
Follow the wild goose flight.
Dip, dip and swing.
Dip, dip and swing her back.
Flashing like silver.
Follow the wild goose flight.
Dip, dip and swing.
She just said that trying a lot of things when you don’t know what is going on can kill you.
Wow! She was taking 90 milligrams of Valium in a day to try to get her muscles to relax so she could sing. She didn’t know that she was taking too much.
I feel so badly for her. No one knew that she was suffering for so long. She hid it. She was taking care of her dying husband. Two days after her husband died, her brother died. Very sad.
This rare neurological disease, Stiff Person Disease that she has only affects one in a million people. That’s crazy, huh? The disease is progressive and doesn’t have a cure.
I am glad that she was finally able to speak out about it. She couldn’t lie anymore.
She’s an interesting woman.
She grew up extremely poor. She fell in love with her manager at a very young age.
She’s had an incredible career. She has three sons that she is raising.
She started having health issues and had no idea what was going on. No one did. I can’t imagine having a disease that rare.
It tortured her to hide her pain. She felt incredible relief after she stopped hiding that she was suffering.
She remains hopeful and hasn’t lost her sense of humor. She’s an amazing woman.
Because she grew up so poor she didn’t eat very much. Audrey Hepburn was the same way. Audrey was the goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.
They were both incredibly thin.
After scrolling back to yesterday, I now know.
My dH always criticizes that I use too many personal pronouns and he cannot follow the conversation or know who I am referring to, after the first "she said, he said".
It was about celebrities. I guess it was a private conversation.
We were discussing Celine Dion’s health and how she is dealing with a rare disease. Sorry for not mentioning her by name in each post. Nothing personal or private.
My brother, a gay man, was born in 1935.
The changes he saw in his lifetime were AMAZING to him.
He lived to 2020, and saw so much. He entered the Army as a gay man, and I have to tell you that Gay-dar (taken from radar) was a real thing. A gay man knew a gay man at once unless very closeted. They did just fine on his Oklahoma base. He was truly well accepted, but he was always such a fine man. They called him "the Banker" because he was such a saver that he sent home most of his check to be saved but still could front money to those out of funds near payday (interest free loans).
Coming home he moved into the big city of Chicago, and as a young suited professional he had gay friends a plenty. In that day and age almost all of them had women friends who posed as wives for those who "needed wives" (bankers, lawyers, some other professionals in corporate world).
He came to the Castro of San Francisco when the Castro was the CASTRO. I lived in SF also and we stared down the aids crisis together, he a gay man, me a nurse.
Before he died my brother got to see a gay man run for President without a whole lot of fuss or muss.
The times they are achangin, and like my old Irish nurse always said, they change one coffin at a time. I am 81 and have finally reached the times of it's all too much for me with the whole "how do you wish to identify today". Even my daughter is saying "but it isn't even correct GRAMMAR all the these, thems, and theys.
But there you are, my coffin's popping up any moment now! The world will just keep changing. Of that we can be certain.