Journal: Thanksgiving

 

Last Tuesday was our friend’s funeral, and, as predicted, I didn’t go, because I had pinkeye, of all things.  Some of my kids and a couple of friends recommended I use colloidal silver, so I went hunting in my cupboard. 

I didn’t find any colloidal silver, but I found something that might be even better:  Ofloxacin eye drops, specifically prescribed to me for a case of pinkeye I had a while back.  There was still over half a bottle of it.  One eye in particular – the eye that that young (I think she was 12) eye doctor injured a few years ago – hurt.  I’ve had pinkeye before, but I’ve never had it hurt so badly.  I ordered some silver, just in case...

By the way, our elderly friend who died in September at the age of 98 was the father-in-law of our friend who died a week ago Friday. 

I’ve just about collected all the family’s Christmas gifts.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll start wrapping and bagging them.  Or maybe I’ll put together a pillow for Leroy; I have one more Whirling Star block made for that purpose. 

Larry went back to work for a few hours after the funeral.  During a stop at a local truck stop, he spotted a big, soft, caramel-nut roll at the cash register, bought it, and brought it home to share with me.  One of our friends makes them and sells them at a few businesses around town.  We warmed it up a bit and slathered it with butter, and that was our dessert.  The main course was beef stew.

That night, I finished piecing the second border for ‘The Heavens Declare Thy Glory’.

Wednesday, I attached the border to the quilt and added the third and final border.  After putting together some large pieces of batting, I loaded quilt top, backing, and batting on the frame and quilted just a bit before stopping for the night.

Thursday morning, I began getting ready for our annual Thanksgiving service and dinner at church, but didn’t fully decide to go until about 9:30 a.m.  It seemed my eyes had recovered fairly well, and I figured if I was careful, I wouldn’t pass it around.

 Victoria texted, “We are driving by Lake North, and we saw more than 15 bald eagles in the trees and flying around.”

I responded, “Wow!”  Then, “Side note:  I resent people who are ready for the Thanksgiving dinner in time to go driving around Lake North.”

Victoria’s answer: 😂😂😂

“I’m getting ready,” I told her, “but one eye is sure being troublesome.  I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“Wear an eye patch,” she advised, “and don’t look anybody straight in the eye.”  hee hee

By a quarter after ten, I was ready to go, and I sure wasn’t going to back out then.  “I’ll put more drops in my eyes just before we leave, try not to get too close to anyone, and just lean over my plate and shovel in the food,” I informed several of my offspring.  😂

We started with a service at 11:00 a.m.  There was first a medley by the brass instruments, and then the congregation sang a few Thanksgiving songs.  The strings then played several songs, and after that my nephew Robert Walker, our pastor, gave a short sermon that included many favorite verses about Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving night be a national holiday, but it’s certainly an attitude we would all do well to cultivate!

We finished with a song, and then went to the Fellowship Hall for dinner.  We sat across the table from cousins of Larry’s and their families, another cousin at the far end of the table, and Kurt and Victoria and their children on the other side of us.

This was what was on the menu:  turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, sweet potatoes, corn, lettuce salad, orange fluff jello, a frozen cream cheese/cranberry sauce/ pineapple concoction (I love that stuff), chocolate or white milk, apple, berry, or orange juice, tea or coffee, and for dessert, apple, pecan, or pumpkin pie, whipped topping, and ice cream.  Larry had a tall, tall slice of apple pie, with oodles of slices of apples in a sour cream base with a crumble topping.  He let me have a bite, since I didn’t get any pie; I was too full.  Mmmm, it was sooo good.

The young people over the age of 13 serve the tables.

The first snow of the season began while we were eating.  There are windows all along the walls of the Fellowship Hall on both the east and the west sides, so we had a clear view of the big windblow snowflakes.  It wound up being just a skiff covering the ground, but for a little while, it was coming down with gusto.

One of Larry’s cousins’ little boy who was sitting next to me and who has always been too timid to talk to me forgot all about his shyness in his excitement over the snow.

“Look at the snow!” he exclaimed, pointing out the window.

“Yes, it’s really snowing!” I said, smiling at him.  “Do you like snow?”

“Yes!” he nodded enthusiastically.

“So do I!” I told him – and then he absolutely beamed at me.  

I just might be the only li’l ol’ lady he knows who loves snow; I know for a fact that his grandmas and great-aunts don’t like it!  😄

Levi thought it was pretty funny when I met him in a hallway after the dinner as he was going around with a vacuum pack strapped to his back (that way, they only have to hold the hose and nozzle), and I didn’t recognize him for a moment.  He has contacts now, so wasn’t wearing glasses.  Plus, he’s gotten several inches taller than me, and his voice is getting lower, lower, lower.

Afterwards, we drove around Lake North.  The eagles were still there, not only looking for fish, but also for any weak or ailing ducks or geese they might be able to pick off without too much trouble.

Hannah texted, “I was just sewing a stuffed dog toy back together, and Willow (her Australian shepherd) was impatiently waiting, working herself up with little growls and then, eventually, little barks.  I said, ‘It’s no.  No, no.’  She rushed over to the buttons and pressed ‘yes’.”

That doggy is so smart and funny!

Home again, I went back to quilting Leroy’s quilt, getting about a third of it done.

Friday dawned bright and sunny.  By noon it was 24° and windy.  I went out to refill the bird feeders wearing sandals (that is, I was wearing sandals; neither the birds nor the feeders had sandals on), and nearly froze to death.

Larry had gone to Oklahoma that day to pick up a bucket for one of his large, motorized chunks of wheeled steel.  He left at 5:30 a.m. – and wouldn’t get back until 3:30 a.m. the next morning.

I cleaned a bathroom and the kitchen, then spent the rest of the day in my quilting studio.

My cousin Fred posted this:  

That afternoon, I spotted the most beautiful ... uh, Dalmatian Siamese?? cat strolling down the sidewalk, so I opened the front door and called ‘kitty-kitty’ – and it whirled around and came dashing to greet me.  And then while I was petting it, suddenly a twin popped right up beside me!  Before I could blink, an inky-black one was there all of a sudden, and all three were scurrying around me purring and patting on my hands with soft little paws!  They’re young, maybe less than a year old.  They’re all well-fed and hale and hearty... and I sure do hope they haven’t been dumped.  After I came in the house, they trotted up and down the sidewalk, looking at windows and door, meowing loudly.  😐😶😥

They have blue, blue eyes, and charcoal-brown ears and tail.  One sat on the front porch and meowed its head off.  Oh, dear, I do hope they belong to the neighbors!

The glossy black one meowed loudly while looking at the front door – then tilted his head back, looked up at my sewing room window, and meowed even louder.  That probably means he’s seen my light on up there and has seen me in that room at night.

That afternoon, having only had a packet of oatmeal for breakfast, I got hungry earlier than usual, and thought longingly of the pie I had not eaten the previous day.  Siggghhhhh...  I consoled myself with a handful of Deluxe Mixed Nuts and a slice of Pepper Jack cheese.

I finished quilting ‘The Heavens Declare Thy Glory’ sometime before 2:00 a.m.  ‘Star Spangled’ is one intense pantograph!

Saturday, I got ready to go visit Loren.  My eye was much better, after faithfully dosing it with Ofloxacin eyedrops for several days.  I didn’t think I was contagious anymore, and I planned to be very careful about washing hands and not touching my eyes or face.  (It always makes my eyes, nose, face, ears, and neck itch, the moment anyone says ‘Don’t touch.’ 😄)

An order of whole beans arrived from Christopher Bean Coffee Company.  Listen to the flavors I got:  Apple Cinnamon French Toast, Winter Wonderland, Gingerbread Crème Brûlée, Pumpkin Spice, and Autumn Spice.  Mmmmm.  The colloidal silver came, too.  I haven’t opened it; my eyes are nearly well.

These are Fremont & Elkhorn Valley Railroad cars.  Years ago, these cars were part of a train that traveled through scenic parts of eastern Nebraska.  Sometimes in the evenings, we’d see the train moving along, windows all lit up, and people in fancy attire sitting in the dining car eating fancy meals.

Ducks and geese are migrating, and long Vs of them were coming down to settle for the night on open areas of the rivers and lakes. 

It snowed through most of the drive to Omaha, but the wind kept it from accumulating on the roads.  It was cold.  But the biggest problem was my eyes, not because of pinkeye, but because of Blepharospasm.  I’ll be so glad when I get my next Botox treatment, and will be able to keep my eyes open normally!  Whew, Blepharospasm certainly made things difficult that day.

This is the North Branch of West Papillion Creek, and beyond are a number of beautiful homes, many of which were damaged by the tornadoes of April 26.  None of the houses have blue tarps on them anymore.  Hopefully, all the roofs that were torn off in those awful tornadoes have now been repaired.  Some new homes are going up in areas of northwest Omaha where houses were simply wiped off the earth.

Loren isn’t doing well; I don’t imagine he will live very much longer.  He was all tipped sideways in his chair, and wasn’t able to sit up straight, though I tried to help him.  When one of the nurses, seeing the problem, tried to help him, it was clearly going to cause him pain, so she let well enough alone.

I got home some time after 6:00 p.m. 

Victoria sent pictures of Arnold; he’s 10 months old now.  This first shot made me laugh.

I ate a quick supper and hurried up to my quilting studio to put the binding on ‘The Heavens Declare Thy Glory’.  I used the last few strips of glow-in-the-dark fabric, interspersed with strips of black fabric, to make the binding.  It took 5 hours to sew it on.  By some miracle, that binding, despite the multitude of diagonal seams in it, went on without a single seam winding up at one of the corners.  Astonishing.  😅

I have a total of 114 ½ hours in this quilt.  It measures 81 ½ " x 81 ½".  The Whirling Star block is from EQ8.  The printed fabric on the quilt top is ‘In Space Planets’ by Elizabeth’s Studio.  I used 40-wt. Stone Blue Signature thread on top, and 60-wt. Medium Blue Bottom Line in the bobbin.  The batting is Quilters’ Dream wool.  The glow-in-the-dark squares in the backing is ‘Space Planets’ by Camelot Fabrics. 

Who knew, I could even ‘quilt it to death’ with a pantograph!  😂

I worked hard to match the interior points of those diamonds in the border.  About the time I’d pat myself on the back and think, There, now, I’ve really got it down pat!, the points would be so far off, they were nearly in another quilt!

Victoria sent pictures she took of the Jackson kids, Teddy and Amy’s 9 children:  Ethan, 20; Emma, 18; Lyle, 17; Jeffrey, 16; Josiah, 14; Leroy, 13; Grant, 11; Warren, almost 10; and Elsie, 8.  In one of the pictures, they had their three big Anatolian shepherds, and the six children who weren’t keeping the dogs sitting nicely for the photo were all holding cats, four of which were marmalades.  The other two were black and dark tortoise.  All four marmalades had their heads craned down at the ground.  “Me go now!”  hee hee

Bedtime!

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,