Happy Easter! Here is my wacky, Easter wreath. Can you see the Piggy & Dirt little chick in the center of the star? It is so precious.
Then one of their orange petite peony stars is dangling up above for added cuteness.
The wicker, gardening hat is a shout out to my grandmother- it was her gardening hat; another shout out to Grandma H.: some of her vintage material ina little ring;
wooly yarn for what we will say is for a lamb, and gray, falling apart linen to symbolize what the women used to wrap the Savior in after he hung on the cross.
That bright, happy yellow rose and the color of the star is a symbol of the
Resurrection.
I had no idea this was what I was makin' when I put it together. I just sorta followed my crazy crafty heart and wished I had time to do more to it but you know how it goes!
Thanks Piggy & Dirt- see etsy)
The wreath was a last minute attempt to entertain, establish memories, and an easy outlet for my hand to do for those grandkids that come over here and make me smile.
Easter and conference (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has semi-annual meetings that are really good to listen to!)
The weekend has meant I could do some letter writing as well. I have not been lulled to sleep by the calm voices of the speakers- so that is a good thing.
And the quite time gives me a second to send out a post to you, Readers.
I Hope that Easter weekend is (was- sorry this is old) a good one for you!
Below is a stark difference than the cute chick above. However, I have tried to find just the right colors of this bird in order to help my grandmother find a sun catcher star in those colors.
(Aruacana Rooster- the kind that my Grandmother has on her hearth- mean things but they are memories from her childhood.)
It's often the little things that those who are disabled need -like a picture hung.
Something mended or fixed. A teacup screw found and driven into the wood so that a suncatcher could be hung from it so that the windows could be washed.
Originally she had me get the 3M Command hook and we used it on the window- BUT she can't get the windows cleaned REALLY well with those on it.(she can only notice that they are not pristine, she can't actually clean it so she asks my Grandpa.
She was willing to sacrifice the area by her kitchen sink but then I hung the blue bird of cold-ness and orneryness from the front window. It just needs to be by itself.
Makes a better statement.
And I found out she likes BRIGHT colors.
Duh. You get older and you get cataracts. So you can't see well. Bright is Best.
Trial and error, Readers.
In an effort to help, my grandmother, who is suffering with Parkinson's disease and, well, heck she is old- she tries to help clean or something. A suncacther cant' be hung unless that window is cleaned!
(Kurt's custom made star -Piggy & Dirt on etsy- matches the Rooster....
And that tiger's eye/marble look is very cool....)
But Grandma decided to only have the "angry blue bird of happiness up in her kitchen window.. Which I had to agree looks the best left alone.
The custom star made by Piggy & Dirt is perfect in J's room, however.
I hope that when J. gets a minute- he will be able to go over to the house and clean cob webs from around the door and windows. Then I will have to direct him on how to clean a window.
Then several.
Then several.
Yikes.
This will be a job he does for "free" I hope, because it is service. It will be A hard job because Grandma was an expert of cleaning windows. AND she will try to help. Keeping her from doing it is the hard part.
It is very difficult to watch someone you love decline. She will move extremely slowly from her recliner, wobbling as she stands up, reach for the walker, then hobble to the kitchen to do something for someone else. Like something as trivial as a piece of chocolate for a guest.
Which was me.
When you receive a chocolate after watching all this effort it makes you feel..... really humble.
Which was me.
When you receive a chocolate after watching all this effort it makes you feel..... really humble.
And if you think going forward is bad- you should see the backing up into her chair whether it is to eat or sit back into the recliner. ugh.... you want to be there to help her with every step so as she does not fall!
Not that I am much help in that department.
Grandpa is a bit better at 90- he is more hunched over but is slim and trim and doesn't need medication to keep on ticking! I think it is because he just keeps moving and he has to take care of Grandma.
And she keeps going because she feels she has to take care of him!
Is this what old age is? Or is this love? And age is no matter!?
I know that the more that I have to serve J. 0 esepcially if I am struggling to do it- that my love for him grows. And that brings me back to to Easter and some fun stories you have to recall due to Easter meaning chickens and the post I started days ago.
Enjoy!
**************************************************************************
I know that this is one of the things that is hard for her to watch; her house not be impeccably clean.
Normally, back in the days I grew up as a child in her home, I never found a speck of dust on her piano.
When I could I would pick out a cabinet and dust each knick knack with the greatest care- knowing that it would bring her some joy, less stress and feeling of needing to clean something when company was coming over, and, if I was lucky, I could learn some new stories.
Now, when I have sat in a recliner at her home, I could see the fine film of dust creeping onto her wood piano.
I am glad that her and grandpa have some cataracts that keep them from seeing things too closely!
But with each spring EVERYTHING was taken out of the cupboards, washed in scalding water, dried, and placed back in a polished cupboard with the glass polished so it shined.
Someone comes to help her with little things and they do "surface" cleaning.
Which is a far cry from what Grandma was accustomed and why she must be living longer than most.
*she doesn't want to go to 103 like her own mother, however. Can't blame her.
Well, Summer is here in Idaho! (i wrote this weeks ago.)
(this was written before Spring Break. The first day of SpRiNgBrEaK; rained. )
We Idahoans hit the 60s! Maybe even the 70's Yeh! That's right!
Padre started to water the lawn! He even mentioned to a puffy-eyed grandson that he would like the front lawn raked!
RAKED, READERS!
And Jaden has already had several water fights with the neighborhood kids. Who has to ask the kid to leave his wet and muddy clothes outside to hose off before coming INSIDE??
My sister is going to attempt to raise more chickens.
Anyone recall my posts on her chickens? How they would get massacred every so often by a local outlaw dog? And other animals that love her farm like most love Chick Filet.
Once a certain animal dug under their abode and eat them. Some lived. My sister, an RN, tried to nurse them back to health but they were skitish. She had to just throw iodine on one. It bleached its feathers.
Oh, boy.
She has inherited a hen house that is quite adorable and so now she is going to try it again! I can't wait to see the eggs! She needs this sign
that uses metal letters that Piggy & Dirt have on their site. I love the mint look that is shining off the metal in this picture. Too cute. J. has asked for bunnies and wants to build a bunny hutch. We have a sad bunny story though, too.
A neighbor dog could ClIMB our fence and did so one day when Buck was out and poor Buck hid in the wood but the dog could do enough damage as a hair dresser and shaved Buck's behind.
It was hard to see the bald back side of Buck!
Dirt had some chickens at one time and they inspired his work! I wonder what kind of chalet they had. And if it was as cute as the one I free lance wrote about several years ago!
Which reminds me about the woman from Martha's Vineyard who had hens for friends. And lived twenty miles from everyone, dealing with Lyme disease (her symptoms suggested that was it vut it was unkown at the time. ), and that she losts her parents, and almost her house, when the city wanted her land. The minutes from court records stood by the fact her parents owned the land and she was the beneificiary. Which made the town mad and they had it out for this poor woman.
Living a good 20 minutes from town she had to make due with what was available except chickens. They helped her live. And most of them were kind enough to be like pet- mourning when she was in pain. How cute is that?
She named her little darlings quirky names. Which added to her quirkyness and made the school boys want to prank her. They didn't wrap toilet paper around her house, yard, or head stones. They did however bang pans together late at night which caused her to be afraid and her symptoms flare.
It also helped her write a book on the only paper she could find; old wall paper from her parents house.
They were so special that when they died she bought little coffins for them and put them in her chicken cemetary. Check out Susan Branch's blog under the section
Seems meant to be!
*This is quite old and worked on like a quilt over several days. Very patchy. Sorry could not get all the pictures on here that I wanted to. I am going to have to interrupt this post in order to end it and get it out there to you, Reader. Despite it being in super need of editing.
enjoy,
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