"She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." ((Proverbs 31:13)

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Hello My Very Dear Friends! 

It has been much too long since I last posted, but a lot has been happening in our family over the past 6 weeks.

My 84 year old Mother, who has Alzheimer's Disease, fell 5 weeks ago, and broke her pelvis in 4 places. She is now  bedridden, and being cared for at my parents' home, by my youngest brother, his wife, and a full time Visiting Angel caregiver. Dad just couldn't bear the idea of mother being in a nursing home, and wanted for her to be in their home for as long as possible.  It is a true blessing that my brother and his wife moved in with them last November.  My siblings and I are so grateful to them, and we have all been taking turns visiting Mother and Dad.  This is such a difficult time of our lives, but I know that many of you have gone through similar times with your own parents too.

My stitching progress has been slow these many weeks, especially since I also caught a nasty gastrointestinal virus from the little grandchildren, which lasted 10 days!  We love seeing them, but all three of them are in nursery school and daycare, so they pick up so many viruses and share them with us:)

Last weekend, we were able to attend a Stitcher's Hideaway Retreat in Mystic, CT, with Thea Dueck of Victoria Sampler, who taught us to stitch a beautiful Christmas sampler.   Since Mystic is a famous old historic seaport, the sampler was very appropriately called "Mystic Christmas Sampler", and had many tall sailing ships and lovely verses and specialty stitches.

We worked in class on the Hardanger section, at the bottom of the design, and some of the specialty stitches above it.  I also managed to stitch all of the over-one verses in the piece, and some of each one of the little scenes too.  I'm just not ready to show you those parts yet:)

If you have never attended a Stitcher's Hideaway retreat, you don't know what you are missing, because they are all  extra special, and always great fun!  

Since our retreat had a Christmas theme, look who decided to show up unexpectedly!

Me (left) Santa & Jan (my new friend)

One of the really fun parts of the retreat that everyone loves, when we have a Christmas theme, is a stitched ornament exchange.  This was the one that I stitched for the exchange.
                              Monthly Stocking Series  
                                 By Blackbird Designs         
I lined the inside with deep red satin.  The hanger is made with cranberry seed beads.

My friend, Jan just happened to pick my ornament to open!

Just look at all of the wonderful ornaments that were made!




Before we went home on Sunday, we stopped in at a great Scandanavian shoppe, in Mystic Village.  As my husband is Swedish, I just knew that he would love purusing this fabulous shoppe, which has more 'eye candy'  than you could ever imagine.  This big Swedish Horse greeted us as we walked in the door!  
We left there with several very special items, among them some delicious Swedish Cardamon Bread, which we just couldn't leave behind!  Yummy.....

Well, dear friends, it is time to end this very long post, before I bore you. Wherever you are, and whatever you might be doing, please know how much your friendships mean to me, and that you are always in my thoughts, even when I have not been in touch for a long while.

With love & blessings for you!



20 comments:

  1. I am so sorry to hear of your mother's fall. Four breaks!! Oh my! I am praying for her. Glad you have recovered. Thank you for sharing the retreat. I have never been to a retreat.

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  2. I am so sorry about your mother's fall! My mother will be 85 in December so I can empathise with you.
    The stitching and ornaments are so pretty!

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  3. You've been missed, Kathy! I would love the chance to go to a stitcher's retreat one day - I've read so much about them on different blogs and it sounds like so much fun. Glad you had a blast! :D

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  4. Oh dear..I am thinking of you and your mom so much..please give her my love..
    Pretty stitches..sweet ornament and such fun time with friends..
    Sending you lots of love x

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  5. I'm so sorry about your grandmother. It's so hard when our loved ones grow old. Love seeing the pictures from the retreat. So much fun, and I love the retreat piece! Love what you stitched for the exchange as well.

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  6. Retreats are so special--beautiful sampler and stocking. Prayers and good thoughts for your family

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  7. I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. I'll be thinking of you and your family as she heals.

    Your stocking ornament is gorgeous! I love the bright silk lining.

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  8. glad to hear that you had a fab time at the retreat and love the wee ornaments :) we don't have them like that over here but things are improving ...lol
    sorry to hear about your mums fall but you have a wonderful network of peeps helping your dad :) and bless your grandkids for sharing the wonderful bugs ..... love mouse xxxxx

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  9. Lovely post the stitching retreat looks like so much fun.
    Love the exchange you stitched.
    A day at a time thats how I got through my dads illness not easy for you and your family.

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  10. Wspaniały sampler! Kocham takie :) Pozdrawiam.

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  11. Hi Kathy,
    Loving your exchange stitching, very pretty!
    Glad to hear all the family are caring for your Mother, warms my heart to read stories like that.
    Blessings.


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  12. Sorry to hear about your Mum's fall, sending you hugs and positive thoughts as she heals!

    Wonderful retreat, love that samplers and all the ornaments!

    Hugs,

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  13. What a wonderful retreat. I love your stocking that you put in the exchange. Such fun!! Have a great weekend!

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  14. Sorry to hear about your Mothers fall, I shall keep your family in my thoughts & prayers.

    Sounds like you had a lovely time at the retreat, Thea's sampler is lovely.

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  15. What a great retreat! How wonderful that your mom is able to stay in the comfort of her own home during this time.

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  16. Oh, Kathy, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom's continual decline. I fully understand your worries and hope your brother and his wife continue to be able to care for her at home. It is such a heartbreaking situation...

    Lovely retreat photos--the stocking ornament you made is wonderful! Lucky Jan :)

    Stay healthy now--I know it must be hard with all those little grandchildren!!

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  17. I send blessings to your Mother, I hope she heals fast and gets back on her feet soon, love all your pictures.
    Blessings
    Catherine

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  18. The retreat looks wonderful, such lovely exchange gifts the ladies made. A very beautiful sampler, hardanger is so pretty to see.

    Sending lots of love and {hugs} your way and praying that your mother is not is too much pain. It's hard as we grow older and we have to watch our parents become more dependant on their children.

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  19. It was nice to have the retreat for a little break from life... and it is nice that you have siblings to help with the care giving. Your stocking ornament is very pretty! Take care!

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  20. I'm so sorry to hear about your mother's fall. It's always a difficult situation when the parents get older and fragile and you have to take decisions for them. You and your family seem to have found a good solution for your dear mom.

    Great for you to go to the retreat and meet stitching friends there. It's one of my dreams to once attend such a stitching retreat. I love the ornament you stitched for the exchange, very beautifully stitched and finished.

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Consider the Lilies of the Field

Consider the Lilies of the Field
"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the Lilies of the Field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these." Matt: 6: 28-29)