Sad News

Annie L Sherrard:  1920 – 2009

Hello all,

This is Mr CnW.  Why you ask?  Well, I told Anne that she needed to let her blogging friends know what has been going on and she said she just couldn’t, so I volunteered. 

Her Mom passed away last Friday (Oct 30th) after a relatively short illness.  She was truly a great little lady.  A wonderful Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother…and also, a heck of a golfer.   It’s hard for us all to believe that just 3 months ago, she was out at her favorite golf course showing it who was the boss. 

She will certainly be missed by all who knew and loved her including Anne, her brother, three grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.   But, we can all find comfort in knowing that she is now on the first tee with Anne’s father at the heavenly golf course where you never lose a ball or hit a bad shot. 

She appreciated all your inquiries about her Mom’s illness and promises to be back blogging soon.  In fact, I think she said she has to do one on the 5th for something or other.   (It’s all “greek” to me!).

Thanks so much for supporting Anne.  

Tisket a Tasket - October

Wow, I can’t believe it’s time for another block!  I don’t know where the time has gone.  Well…yes I do and I’ll tell you about it after I show you this darling block.   So fun to do in wool too.   By now, you know the drill about heading over to Anne’s blog to get the pattern.  Only 2 more blocks left to go! 

  I think we’re going to look for sashing fabric while we’re at Market, right Anne?

So, on to the reason for my absence.   I won’t go into ALL the details but first want to thank you all who have emailed me to ask about my Mom or to tell me that I’ve been missed.   I really appreciate you all.  Bloggers are just the best!

As you know from a previous post, my Mom got “cellulitis” in her legs and was admitted to the hospital.   While there, she developed a blood clot in her thigh.   She was then treated for that but began getting very weak.   (You need to know that she is 89 years young, and prior to the cellulitis, she played golf 3 times/wk, line dancing 2 times/wk, tai chi, daily walks and….get this…20 minutes on the Nordic Track.   Lived alone in her own house and still drove everywhere.  Now she can’t even get herself up from a sitting position and has to walk with a walker.)

Anyway, after 2 weeks in the hospital, and then 2-1/2 weeks in a skilled nursing facility, she was able to come home but needed 24 hour care.   I provided that for a week until she had to be readmitted because of anemia and loss of blood.  Where was all her blood going?   That was the $64,000 question.    After doing an Upper GI, 2 CatScans, an MRI and Xrays, they still don’t have a definitive answer.  

An oncologist was called in and suspects that she may have “blood cancer”.   Not really sure what that is…and they say they won’t really know until it manifests itself.   If anyone out there knows anything about this…let me know.  

We had arranged 24 hour care for her in her home right before the last admission.  I was supposed to be going to Emma’s 3rd B’day celebration in Seattle, but thought I better stay in Sacto.   My Mom and brother both insisted that I go to Seattle and after much prodding from both of them, I went ahead and left her in the care of her Drs and my brother, telling them that I could hop right back on a plane and come back if needed.   She stayed in the hospital another week and then came home and, for now, has a caregiver she really likes.   

I have to say that if any of you are caregivers or know someone who is, you have my utmost admiration and respect.   It is an incredibly hard job and so very stressful.   Kudos to you!

Now, on to the party.  Emma turned 3 and she wanted a “pinkalicious” party in the park.   She got her wish.  Here she is, swinging at her pinana… Yep, that’s what she calls it.  

We gave her a pink laptop and some fun dress-up clothes and shoes.

 

She wasn’t feeling very well on her b’day.  She’d had a nasty cold and fever AND….decided to share it with…ME!   Isn’t she sweet?   I’m sure I was ripe for any bug to invade my body!   I think it was the worst cold I’ve ever had.   We came home last Monday and I literally didn’t get out of bed until Thursday!   I’m on the mend now and really looking forward to going to Quilt Market with Anne on Wednesday.    After we get back from that, I’ll be heading back to Sacramento to my Mom’s. 

While I was at my Mom’s, I worked on lots of new projects for Anne. (She’s got some wonderful new patterns debuting at Market). What a godsend that was.   I took my sewing machine and supplies and Anne provided me with all the materials.  I didn’t have to make any decisions…I just sewed for her.   It was such therapy, I can’t even begin to tell you.    I would sew when my Mom was sleeping and it would help ease my tensions. 

I did get to work on 2 blocks of my Wool Garden too.

 

Look…we’re almost done!   Thanks Karen for your wonderful choices of cottons n wool!  And, by the way, I can’t wait to see you at Market!

So, that’s about it for me.  If you’ve stuck with me thru this whole post (a really long one for me), thank you.    It’s been a trying time, to say the least but we’ll all get through it.

I can’t end this without showing you a picture of the cutest little guy you’ve ever seen.   I call him “Mr. Happy”.   Our little guy, Mason, is now 4 months old!  He just makes me smile.

Being a Grammy is just the best!

A sulking hubby

Yesterday was Mr. Cottons ‘n Wool’s birthday (from here on out to be known as Mr. CnW), and his feelings were hurt that he didn’t make the blog.

This is the cake I got him. It’s a tiny little cake but oh so good.

The insides? A spice apple caramel. Oh, yumms!

So, Happy Birthday Mr. CnW. I love you!

Out of the mouths of babes

“Grammy, this big CD won’t fit in the player”.

Enough love?

Having only had one child (a girl),and then having 1 grandchild (a girl), I always wondered if you could love a second child as much as the first. And then…knowing that the baby was going to be a boy…well, that really threw me for a loop. What would I do with a boy? I only know girls! Well, along came Mr. Mason to show me that my worries were completely unfounded. He completely grabbed my heart strings and never let them go. He is the sweetest, easiest , mellowest (is that a word?) baby ever born. (Hmm, sounds like a proud Grammy, huh?). I don’t think he had a fussy spell (for no reason) the entire 2 weeks I was helping out. I didn’t get many good pictures of him because I had my camera on the wrong setting but here are a few. I’ll take you on a little trip that lasted 2 whole weeks.

He was a big baby when he was born and continued eating the whole time I was there. LOL.

Emma did really well with him. Only threw things at him a couple of times. Tee Hee.

He only cried once while being bathed. Check out Emma in the background. She was drinking water out of one of his bottles with…a straw!

I think Mommy has had enough of Emma’s help right here.

That’s okay…Daddy’s cell phone is a lot more fun!

So, I told you that I was taking a shuttle from Bend to Portland. Here we are at a potty stop.

And then I took Amtrak from Portland to Seattle.

I like taking the train. It’s much more relaxing than a plane and the seats are bigger too. YaHoo.

The day after I arrived we took Emma for a haircut. Whenever her Mommy told her that Grammy was coming, she’d then say, “and then I can get a haircut?”.

Before…

And… after.

The weather was absolutely perfect while I was there so we got to play outside. Not always something you can do in Seattle.

And all the while….Mason slept!

Remember the “tapes” (capes)? Well, I let Emma choose which one she wanted. She decided immediately that she wanted the lavender one. That meant that the glittery butterfly one was going to Kayden. Guess what? After Kayden got hers….Emma decided she wanted the glittery one after all. Hmm…what to do? NOTHING! We ignored her. LOL

She loved playing with Kayden’s dress up clothes tho.

Loves shoes…just like her Mommy!

And here’s Kayden wondering if those shoes are staying or going?

Another day we went to the beach near their house and Emma and her Daddy did their favorite thing…throw rocks.

And find the ickiest things in the sand. (cigarette butts and gawd knows what else).

The little princess teaching a class!

And eating her veggies!

So, all in all, I had a great visit. Obviously there are more pictures of Emma since she “does things”. LOL There’s no doubt in my mind now that my heart is big enough for 2 wonderful grandchildren…even a boy!

*A note to all of you who commented on my posts while I was away. I had some real issues with my e-mail and couldn’t reply. I finally figured it out when I got home, but I want you all to know that I read and appreciated all your wonderful comments and thoughts.*

Hugs, Anne

Welcome to the world

Mason Joseph, born May 24th at 5:01am, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 11.4 ounces. It wasn’t the easiest delivery but Mom and Mason are doing really well now.

Inducing was started and then stopped due to an overload of maternity patients requiring all available staff in the OR, so Emma was able to see Mommy and Daddy a couple of times before Mason was born. All she was interested in was Mommy’s food. Take a look.

Sugar cookie. (Dessert first, you know).

Grilled Cheese, mmm..yummy.

And some O’s.

Holy cow….what kind of tub is this? I could play here all day.

And finally….Baby Brodder was here!

He even brought Emma a present.

A magnetic paper doll set to play with. What a smart brother. Starting things off on the right foot.

And Emma gave Mason a present too. A cute little squeaky toy.

A very proud Papa and Grammy. (and Emma with more of Mommy's food).

And the happy family at home!

The weather for our drive to and from Seattle was absolutely perfect. I couldn’t resist taking these two pics of Mt. Hood, right outside of Portland.

And this is Mt. St. Helens, between Portland and Seattle.

Mt. Rainier, southeast of Seattle. It was hard to get a good picture while travelling at 70 mph. (I sure hope that’s the speed limit in Washington LOL). It sure makes for a nice drive when you have such beautiful mountains to look at.

And… lastly, a couple more pics of Miss Emma playing at the park.

So, Mason was well worth the wait and I’m excited to get back there in a couple of weeks to help out.