Days Filled to the Brim

 Oye! It's been a crazy 11 days around here. We exceeded our bandwidth about 3 days ago, but we're shuffling forward.

My FIL called us, upset, on the morning of the 3rd saying my MIL had fallen again and was very confused. We told him to call 911, but he refused so we jumped in the truck and drove over. It takes us an hour.  When we got there, she was sitting up at the kitchen counter, still confused, but that's not unusual, as she has dementia and there were no signs of a head injury. We thought possible UTI, but they don't talk about those kinds of things and my FIL still didn't want to go to the hospital. We had ordered oxygen the day before. We called home health care (that we had just started 3 days earlier) and they said she needed to go in so we made them go. 

We stayed all day and then met up with our son, DIL, and granddaughter as we had a supper reservation 

To celebrate our son's birthday

We were also keeping our granddaughter for 2 nights as our son and DIL had to leave the house at 2 a.m. so our son could catch a 6 a.m. flight out to Delaware.

DH spent Sunday in the hospital with mom, while I kept little E.

Treasuring every moment

I drove our granddaughter to school on Monday and worked the book fair for a couple of hours before scooting back to the hospital. 

They kept my MIL for 3 nights so that she would be eligible for skilled nursing via medicare. My FIL was there for a few hours each day, but he is dealing with this by not dealing with it so we are tending to everything. Understandably, he is very overwhelmed. No one wants to be in this position, but we can't abandon my MIL. 

Now, don't get me wrong. My FIL is the BEST. He's just VERY old school and neither of them have ever had to deal with elderly family...ever. And if something is unpleasant, and they don't talk or think about it...it doesn't exist. Sigh. So we're very grateful that we are able to help them navigate this difficult season.

The hospital is 1 1/2 hours away from us and on Tuesday they moved her to a skilled nursing care facility, another hour away. DH called his sister, in Texas, and said she needed to come. Everyone needed to be on the same page. She stayed with my MIL on Wed. and Thurs. during the day and drove back to Texas on Fri.

DH drove 3 hours to tend to our cows in Texas on Thursday and made plans for us to wean the calves in November.

On Thursday, I drove to the town we do our business in and spent the day touring skilled nursing facilities, as the current 5 hr round trip to see my MIL multiple times a week is not feasable.

DH and I met up as he came back from Texas at 5:30 and grabbed something to eat. It was 8 when we got home.

Friday, he had to load his horse and drive back in because he is a judge for the 2 day ranch rodeo. 

I drove down and spent the day with my MIL, drove up to our gate just after 7 and realized I didn't have a gate key because we had given the one I keep in the truck, to my BIL when he stayed with us. 🙄 

No big deal, except I was just plumb give out. So I walked down our very steep hill to the house (a ways, but just 0.2 of a mile), in the dark, got the key, walked back up the very steep hill, unlocked the gate, and drove back down. You can see the pindots of light after you drive through the gate and take the curve...that's the house and barn

I fed horses, bees, cats (too dark to find the heifers), shut up chickens, and found a visitor in the barn. 😂 I just backed out and let the stinker be. I was too tired to do anything else. The thought of having to de-skunk myself or Skeet was just too much.

Saturday morning, I tended to critters, made a quiche so we'd have something to eat on Sunday, packed and drove to town to help DH, and meet up with our DIL and granddaughter for the ranch rodeo

and carnival at the fairgrounds.

She got to ride with Pap while he warmed up his horse

Concession stand hot dog...

And spiffy pink boots for the win!

A good friend puts on this ranch rodeo and he comps us motel rooms for the 2 nights so after getting DH's horse fed, watered and settled in for the night,

We hit the hay too.

We were up at 4 a.m., back to the fairgrounds to load and drove home on autopilot. 

We were gone every single day for 12-17 hours, 8 days straight. That's unsustainable for this 62-yr old, introvert, hermit. And boy howdy! I needed a little reset in order to tackle another week.

Most importantly though, my MIL is doing better. It's doubtful she'll be able to come home, but she's well enough to complain about the food and honestly, she's not wrong. 😉

DH is headed to see his mom today and hoping to get her transferred closer and I am spending the day at his folks' home, cleaning with Jesus.

The Tiny Joy Project

 Besides writing here, I don't participate in a lot of social media. I pop on Instagram every so often and pick up recipes or quilty inspiration and a while back this account called the tiny joy project popped up and it was simple...and sweet...and profound...all at the same time. 

I've always approached my days with a sense of wonder and taken notice of the many, tiny, quiet gifts that are tucked into every day. I shut out much of the 'news', the loud, the noise from my life. I make room for Christ...and family...and friends...and tiny little joys.

And I wanted to share that with you.

The Tiny Joy Project

Under the Needle: September

 Time for another end of the month sewing recap. I think time speeds up when we sleep. It's the only way I can explain how fast I'm flipping the calendar pages.

Five or six years ago I picked up this chicken fabric, pulling a few coordinates from my stash as soon as I brought it home

Since then, it's moved around my sewing room a lot, I switched out the red, but I finally took the next step, pressing and cutting it out for a baby quilt

Making something with this bundle, has been on my list for a few years too. It's an older line called Snuggle Season and it finally saw the light of day this month as I contemplated possible patterns while pressing the fat quarters

The jury's still out, but I'm leaning  towards using either the Ramona quilt pattern or making a triangle quilt, but the triangles may not make the best use of the fabric I have. I'm still browsing through my stash to see what I can add. I know that will include plaids. 😊

Saddle Ranch was cut out in August, and I enjoyed stitching it into a top this month although in this photo, it's still just in blocks.

I also dusted off this Blueberry Cobbler project. It's an older Bonnie Hunter pattern she calls Winter Blues, but I had to rename it because we live in the land of sunshine and we don't get the winter blues here. I started this one years ago and it makes the UFO list every year. I had 86 little blocks made, but needed more and then started in on another block. 

I worked on it quite a bit the last half of the month and made good progress as well as a huge mess.

I handed off 6 quilts to be quilted early in the month. I see lots of binding in my future...good thing it's one of my favorite parts of making quilts. Finally Flannel Season is my current binding project

My S'mores quilt finally made it over the finish line this month

And this Dream Big Little One baby quilt also had the last stitch added

I just keep chipping away at the quilt list I made back in January and I've managed to stay pretty focused, while still working on whatever catches my eye. One thing that is certain... I don't foresee running out of projects any time soon. 😉

Dream Big, Little One Quilt

This was never even a UFO. Just 2 pieces of flannel I picked up probably 10 years ago at Joann's in Amarillo, TX. I still think it's cute and thought it was high time it became a quilt

It finishes 45"x51" and as fast as I've been handing out baby quilts lately, it won't be long before it makes it's way home to welcome a new arrival.

It's not a cheater cloth - it's actually pieced, but it came that way on the bolt. It's a combination of minky and flannel and it's incredibly soft. Sandy quilted it with a design called Chantilly Lace.

For a sweet quilt that I didn't have to piece, it sure took a long time to finish.