Fate Deals Another Crushing Blow

 My girls are both in college, after homeschool, they have had to work extra hard to make friends, a bit difficult when their peers seldom look up from their phones.  They managed to create a group of wonderful friends despite this.  Anna met Raven in her education classes.  Raven worked at Home Goods and helped Anna get a part time job there as well.  There, they met Trinity and Michelle and Ashleigh.  They got together on their days off to shop and just be friends.  My youngest, Grace joined the group and she and Ashleigh hit it off immediately.  They are the same age, the "little sisters" of the group and my introverted Grace came out blooming with this new friendship.  On Ashleigh's 18th birthday, all the girls surprised her with dinner at a fancy sushi restaurant, followed by an evening at the "escape room", where they had to solve a mystery of a missing necklace in a house full of antiques.  They had such a great time.  One week later, Memorial weekend, we are all out shopping as a family.  I go into a store, the girls wanted to rest in the car.  I come out to find them crying as though their hearts would break.  "Mom, Ashleigh has been killed in a car crash."  She was with her grandparents and cousins going on a camping trip.  Their car crossed the line and hit a semi head on.  We will never know why.  Her grandmother and 9 year old cousin were also killed. Ashleigh was a rather amazing young woman.  Although just finishing her junior year in high school, she had already completed half of an associates degree and joined the air force.  She loved animals and worked at the local shelter on top of school, college and working.  She always tithed part of her salary to her church as well.  Our world will be less without her.

birthday party--Ashleigh has the light brown hair

Pretending Life is Normal

World continuing to go to hell in a handbasket, I'm just making things and pretending it is not happening.  Not working out perfectly, but I'm getting through the days.

Creative wise, I am doing some good work, here are a few pretty pictures.

The lilac blooming season is brief but glorious.

one of our oak trees split and had to be taken down--sad as that was, I was about hysterical when I realized the tree guys would flatten my garden to get to it.  All the daisies and peonies and iris were just starting to bloom, I bawled like a baby when they crushed it all.

Trudging Along

 More turmoil as we have had to move my mother in law in with us.  She has been living at home, but needs much assistance, which she was getting from her daughter and her grandson.  He killed himself over the weekend, a sordid story that I do not wish to tell.  I had 24 hours to remove everything from my work room to turn it into a bedroom, which was almost the worst part.  I was panicked at the thought of not being able to do what I have to do, which is lifting to get her upright, as she cannot get in and out of bed without assistance, nor stand without assistance and can only take a few steps with a walker.  Our house is old, long, floors of different heights, and the hallway to my old work room is impossibly small and so hard to get a wheelchair in and out of.  It has been improving, she is settling in and I am getting kind of used to what I have to do and trying not to think about how permanent a change this is to my life.  It has been definitely hard to tend to my shop this week, hoping I will find more time soon.  My husband is home today taking care of her, so I get a break, and just thought I would rediscover my blog.  Sigh.

Since I haven't been posting, I am just putting up some photos of things that have sold so I have a memory of them.

Next, I still have these things, I don't know why the mustard seed bread board is still around, it is some of my finest work.

2020 Draws to a Close

 It has been a year filled with anxiety and unbearable loss, and I have tried to make myself so busy that I won't think about the grief that is consuming so many of us.  I have gone even more over the top with my Christmas decorating this year, partly to keep my blinders on as I plow forward, partly to convince myself that I can make things right.  Wishing you all joy and peace in the coming year.

Prayer is All I Have Left

 My sister is not doing well, she has been moved to the ICU and I fear the worst and pray for a miracle.  She was given remdisivir (I am sure all my spellings are not right), steroids and antibiotics, but no plasma antibodies, which I think are the saving drug.  We have seen hydroxychloroquine work in my husband's clinic, but the doctors she saw would not use it.  All I have left is faith, and the test is real.

What If You Left Facebook and Nobody Noticed?

 Ah, Facebook, a sad tale involving humans wanting to interact, wanting to be noticed, wanting some friends, but it becomes a dark dismal place full of anger and black thoughts.  I deactivated yesterday and I am sure not one of my 1800 "friends" will even notice.  I had been staying on, thinking I needed to give an alternate point of view to the many extreme left wing views that were being posted.  As I have said,  I am especially upset by the defund the police movement.  I think I held my ground, but recently I posted what I thought was a simple defense of Judge Barrett.  I simply said that I thought she had been mischaracterized by the press, and that she has repeatedly said she did not believe the court should be a legislative body.  I was trying to point out that they shouldn't worry that this one single person would completely change the law of the land.  I was not mean, no namecalling, no recriminations, really nothing controversial, just that simple fact.  My own sister practically disowned me for this comment, so I need to leave this place where I am truly unwelcome.  I will never understand why having a difference of opinion about a public servant could cause so much animus.  I forced myself to apologize, when I think I had nothing to apologize for, but thought family was more important.  Truth be told, I don't think my own sister believes that, but I guess it is up to me to keep the peace.  Sad times.

Well, about one minute after I wrote the above, I got a message that another of my many sisters has covid.  She is diabetic, so very concerning.  Her doctor is treating her with the right medicines and has told her to get to the hospital immediately if she has trouble breathing and she will be treated with the medicines my husband would use--at least I know she has a good physician.  I have been brought abruptly to be reminded about what really matters, and what really does not.  I am sure I haven't had the last of petty arguments, but am chastened for the time being.

This makes my heart heavy and it is difficult to think about my job, I just keep my head down and keep going.  I think I've created some beautiful things here in the darkness.

A Strange Tale from a University Coronavirus Case

 The University of Iowa is sort of open now.  My oldest daughter attends there, while my youngest is starting at the local community college.  They are happy to have their childhood playmate from old Clarinda living here in the dormitories as they all start college together.  Fortunately for us, their friend is a bit of a Gladys Kravitts.  That girl knows more about the goings on of the university in her few short weeks here than we have living here for years.

Anyway, this story made the local news in the first week of move-in to the dormitories:

A freshman girl came from Illinois, moved in early with her roommates.  They eat at a local restaurant their first night, next morning she has a headache.  She has a packet from the U that included a thermometer, she uses it and has a temperature.  She calls her mom, who sets up a telemedicine call for her.  He sets up a coronavirus test for her and it turns out positive.  She later posts on Instagram about how unprepared the U was--she was told to pack her belongings and take them to another dormitory, alone.  The new room is dirty, she complains, told no more rooms.  Somehow, she gets into another room and sleeps on the floor, wakes up with ants in her blankets.  At some point, she is in hysterics and about faints and calls mom again, who calls ambulance.  Kind of unclear about what happens there, but she ends up going to a hotel and getting a bus ticket home.  Fine idea to go to a hotel and ride a bus when you have covid, but there you have it.  Local news source ends story there, but my Gladys connection tells me the girl was back at the U in just a few days and moved back in to her original dorm room.  Strange, but true, as they say.

So this all leads back to our local rise in corona cases, most are university students, and since it happened so fast, I am going to say they brought it with them.  There has been no spike in cases at my husband's clinic.  Also, from what I hear, most of the student cases are very mild.  2 friends of my daughters had it and gave it a "mild cold" rating.  So, back to waiting and wondering.  

This week, I have been creating primitives in black and white, rather fond of them.

This little cupboard sold the minute I listed it, but wanted to put up a photo for posterity.