Ms Grundy again

Sunday We had a celebration of life for our grandson Lucas, who lost his battle on Monday. It was at the hospital where he stayed for five months, and was attended by maybe 130 people - co-workers of Ben's at the Air Force, in a long line of dress blue uniforms, and dozens of nurses, doctors, desk people from the NICU and from the prenatal ward where Heather was for a month before Lucas came. It was a tender and beautiful service - Our thanks to all the staff and the wonderful chaplains at Providence.

Our grandson was lucky to have Ben and Heather for parents, and we are all lucky to have known him. His life was a struggle, and he fought valiantly and ferociously. hugs to all those who prayed for him, care about him, or helped him fight. Benjamin Dean Lucas Eric Dean, born july 2 2011, died today December 12 2011 at 11:15. Lucas was a verry tough babie. He fought hard to hold on to life for a verry long time against impossible odds until the verry last moment. When it became aparrent that his condition was no longer repairable and his suffering became too much, a decision was made to let him pass. He was loved and will be missed by both of his parents Ben and Heather, his entire family, everyone who saw his photos or heard his story, and the entire Providence NICU/prenatal unit staff.

Made ten more blocks yesterday - seemed to be pressing for hours. There will be pictures when it's done - or maybe when the top is done. day & night in teals with rust accent http://www.quiltinaday.com/shoponline/books_display.asp?i=20490

Recently, a blogger I read said that she learned a new way to put on a  bra. This is a grown woman, with grown kids. I am stymied. There are only two ways to put on a bra. Either put your arms through the straps first, and then hook, or hook first, and then put your arms through. Whether you bend over to adjust "things" is not a "different way to put on a bra" - just sayin'

Over the weekend, my daughter cut out and she and I sewed ten (10!) pair of pajama pants - didn't get all the elastic done - but 5 pair are complete. She added a ruffle to the bottoms of 2 of the girls' pairs. She also embellished matching tees with  satin stitch, painting, and iron-on letters and flames!! The plaid is really a very soft corduroy that was on sale at Wal-Mart.  Other jams were made from flannel, cotton sheeting, and blue-flame quilting cotton.

Went to a nephew's wedding yesterday. It was beautiful. Her colors were navy blue and silver. The table was decorated with a simple strip of navy fabric, edges pressed under, topped with a pressed strip of silver - simple, lovely. There were several small cakes and cupcakes - delicious. But don't try to use navy blue frosting in large amounts - can't tell you how many people ended up with black lips and blue teeth. ;0

someone trying to sell a quilt "pattern" that is just squares - randomly arranged squares -   OR someone who is all self-congratulatory about "giving away" the "pattern" for FREE!! (this week only!!!)))   Imagine that!!

‎"Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at age 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. " Members of the Armed Services are not. "National Guard and Reserve servicemembers who complete a minimum of 20 "qualifying" years of service (creditable retirement years) become eligible for retired pay at age 60." S.C.’s DeMint tells veterans they don’t deserve job help The current salary (2011) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174000 per year ... Average Salary of Soldier DEPLOYED IN AFGHANISTAN $38000 S.C.’s DeMint tells veterans they don’t deserve job help http://msbusiness.com/businessblog/2011/11/11/carter-s-c-’s-demint-tells-veterans-they-don’t-deserve-job-help/

We were eating at Village Inn in Anchorage. The staff was alerted to clear a large area for a large group of "Samoans." I wouldn't know if they were Samoans, Hawaiians, from Guam, or whatever. It turns out that Anchorage is home for several groups of Pacific islanders (don't know why that seems strange to me). At any rate, I was amazed at the clothes. They were dressed up - perhaps for church or a wedding,  Now, the beautiful ladies were wearing full-length dresses in large, vibrant prints. But that's not what amazed me. Most of the men - four or five - were wearing what I have since researched to be a tupenu, or lava-lava. At the time, it amazed me that they were wearing 100% Western suit jackets, white shirts, ties - on the top half, and on the bottom, folded and wrapped sarongs of the SAME FABRIC as the suit jacket. It seemed a radical combination of cultures to me. I have tried to find pictures on the Net - but haven't been able to. I don't know if ...

A friend posted on facebook about the Duggars - the Arkansas family with 19 children who have just announced they are expecting again. A commenter posted " we should all take example of their ability to stay out of debt " Angrily, I replied," They are able to stay out of debt because of the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to them by television execs." And then added: " that and real estate, - a $200,000 PROFIT from a SINGLE sale." And:" They use paper plates, have NEVER used cloth diapers, and of course, have NEVER paid for child care." A good friend sent a  measured and generous reply to my rant about the Duggars. I really don't care who uses paper plates - although I really do hate paper diapers. My daughter works at a daycare, and I certainly see why they have to require disposables for health department reasons. After thought, I realize that I am truly bothered by the Duggars for two reasons:   The first is that our earth has ...

Recently, Jer and I were regaled for hours with stories from a former long-haul trucker. One of the things he told us about was picking up loads from underground warehouses. When I was telling my daughter about this, she said, "You mean, like black market?? Should he be talking about that??" (n.b. The in-ground warehouses are much more efficient for heating and cooling.) see: subtropolis, Kansas City MO, in a former limestone mine http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch5en/appl5en/subtropolis.html http://www.huntmidwest.com/subtropolis/index.html

Did I mention that, coming back from Oklahoma City, in the middle of nowhere turnpike, my car made a funny noise, turned on the engine warning lights, and died? We asked the tow driver where we could rent a car. We were an hour in any direction from a rental place. Luckily, his brother offered to drive us to Tulsa. But then he drove us all the way home - 5 hours!! (He talked most of the way, too. A former long-haul trucker, he had lots of stories.) water pump - Somewhere in OK, someone may be working on that right now.

We went to my husband's uncle's 90th birthday party Saturday. He's an amazing guy. He was in WWII - and once told us about being stationed in the Aleutians and later, fighting to gain control of a beachhead in the Pacific. He was a rancher, and still ran cattle until just a few months ago. His wife passed away about 2 years ago, and he was taking care of himself and his animals all alone. He's not doing too well right now. His bones are brittle, and some of his vertebrae are fractured, and he's in quite a bit of pain. But he keeps on going. Driving to the party I got weirdly nervous vibes. We were in a new million- dollar homes-2 golf course subdivision. Her house is so perfect. Mine will never be that clean, or that organized or that  "Southern Living" decorated. But normally I am pretty comfortable with my laid- back style and my comfortable, messy home. I got to worrying about my clothing, my weight, my lack of wealth, whether I had anything to ta...

I got my nails done last Thursday. They are GORGEOUS- all strong and swirly on white, like a hot fudge sundae, but with a clear base. The chocolate is sparkly also- but you can only see that in sunlight.  They are En Vogue nails - which means they are super-shiny, last for at least 3 weeks, and never chip or flake.  But best of all, there are no odors or nasty chemicals - either putting them on or taking them off. My natural nails weakened considerably during chemo, and even though they may grow out past the end of my fingers,  they bend, split, break off, and actually get dents. So the UV gel nails are fantastic.

made these socks for my daughter-in-law during the trip to Alaska. Two pair in two weeks is really too much - made my hands hurt. But I have made two pair and started another since I have been back.

OK, I hate applique. I am also not one for elaborate, intricate designs. But I fell in love. And this is the result. I t is bound and partially quilted - needs more quilting - You may be able to see a safety pin or two. My husband says I should have taken a better picture. I is really a rectangle. He wants the quilt for his birthday. pattern by Lisa Moore of Quilts with a Twist.

Spent two weeks in Alaska to see our new micro-grandson. He was born July 2nd at one pound two ounces. He has made it through some rough times, thank God, and now weighs 2 pounds 13 ounces. He is in an excellent NICU, with super staff - but we only got to see him five times for 15 mins each in the 2 weeks. I so want to hold him, but when we got there, his mother had only got to hold him once, and our son, his dad, not even once. So that has improved greatly in the last few weeks - both of them have held him several times. He is doing well.

I made a quilt - yesterday and today. Bought the fabric in Alaska - will include a picture of my own soon as it is dry(long story). The fabric is blues, with a dog sled team racing across delectable mountains. Pattern is  Delectable Dog Sled   by Lisa Moore of Quilts with a Twist! . But. of course, I had trouble following the directions - my problem, not theirs. It seems that I cut and sewed 16 triangles wrong.  There were supposed to be 16 rectangles in mirror images, 8 and 8. I made 16 things that turned out not to be rectangles, and all the same. Now, I was heartbroken. The fabric was $11.00 a yard, and I just did all my fabric wrong. But, rather than my usual screaming, throwing things, and never touching the fabric again, I decided that batiks look pretty much the same on both sides, and so just turned half of the fabrics upside down. I finished the top, 19x57 inches, yesterday, and machine quilted and bound it today. It needs more quilting, though. I had to was...

In the last 2 weeks, I have made 4 shorts for my granddaughter(various colors - white twill, khaki broadcloth, light blue, and denim blue.)  and three sleep shorts for my hubs(blue, burgundy, and green flannel.) No pictures - they're just loose shorts - no pockets, elastic waist. I can make one in an hour, including finding the fabric, cutting, sewing, and forcing a try-on. The beauty part of the little girl shorts is that they are refashioned from my husband's old work shirts. He has retired, and the shirts are in very good shape - but can't be given away as is, because his name and the department insignia have been embroidered on the fabric. I have tried to rip out that embroidery, but the time isn't worth it, and I put holes in the shirt. But a long-sleeved men's shirt has quite enough fabric below the pockets for kids' shorts. If it is long-sleeved, there is enough fabric in the sleeves for small kids' shorts too. (I also save the buttons.) In my UF...

Just checked my old blog - turns out I haven't posted since  Nov 2009 - it was a quarrel between Yahoo mail, Gmail, Blogger, and me. I don't know who won, but I lost. http://caro-grundy.blogspot.com/