Downton Abbey RR

 

This is the block that was with her others that was lost.

I have been in a round robin based on Downton Abbey this past few months.  It is the first one I have entered in about 15 years or when I was a newbie.  I think it will be my last.  There are 5 of us in this RR = should have been six but one gal had to drop out before we started hence 5 of us.  We are to do a block a month and we work on one entire block then mail on to the next person.  When finished we will receive 4 finished blocks and one left to be done by ourselves.

All was going well until May 19 when I mailed a large envelope with the block I had just finished from Mt. Dora to Jackson, TN.  It was supposed to arrive 2-3 days later and still has not arrived.  The post office is supposedly doing a search for it.  I feel very bad because 1 gals 5 blocks were in there. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will find it somewhere and it will be returned.

The following 3 blocks are the ones I have completed with one more block to be done that I have not received yet.  Here are the 3 I have done.

 On this block I did a lot of beading around the flowers in the center.

Thisone was fun to do.  The only thing I am not sure about is the small flower applique I put on the bottom left of the picture.  If she does not like it it can easily be removed.

This is just a section I accidently downloaded.

You can tell I had a little downloading problem. Hugs Freda

VINTAGE CLOTHING

Here I am again.  I still have the cold and the black eye but am slowly improving.

In April Renningers had their vintage garden weekend and it is always lovely with lots of flowers and antiques worth buying.  I had just about made it out with a few small things and then I came upon this lst booth.  I looked at what was hanging and could not help myself.  She had 2 jackets and 1 skirt that she was selling for the maker.

I ended up buying a jacket and skirt.  They were brand new and signed Forever Yours b y Karen.  It was dated 1994. 21 years ago.  Apparently the gal used to make these and ship them to 2 boutiques in the Carolinas.   They sold in the $200. plus range at that time.  I paid $100. for the 2 pieces.  I have worn the jacket and may never wear the skirt.  It is very full and if I do I will probably remove a couple of sections first.

I wore the jacket to the annual garden club luncheon that Sue belongs to and it is held in the private Inverness Country Club in Inverness.  Sue is a member and takes me for Mother's Day every year.  I just made it back in time for this year being later coming home.

I have snapped a couple of pics then Harv took a couple with me wearing the jacket.  Here goes:

Being a sewer myself I was very impressed with the way she had put these together.  Very good workmanship.

BACK FROM IRELAND

We made it to Ireland and back and learned far more about my Father's family and life then we knew before.  It was a wonderful trip with my daughter Sue.  Just know that if you travel with someone that much younger they will run the feet of you.  One day we walked almost 6 miles and another day about 4.
We spent 2 nights in Dublin and 4 in Belfast which is the area where family came from.  I had been to Dublin before but Sue had not.  She planned our itinerary and kept me hopping and we saw far more then I would have ever seen by myself or with Harv.  We took the train from Dublin to Belfast then same on return with a taxi from there to the airport.

Everything went very well.  Hotels we picked were great except the Dublin one was better then the Belfast one for less money.  Speaking of money - Dublin is on the Euro while Northern Ireland is on the British pound.  Had to keep switching back and forth.  The people at both could not do enough for you. Very accommodating.  All the people we had contact with were very friendly and when they heard your accent went out of their way to be helpful.  Taxi drivers supplied us with Irish history.

All went well until Sunday night (we were leaving Monday morning back to Dublin and home) we took a tour of the northern Antrim coast which took us up to the top of Ireland.  At some points you could see Scotland in the distance.  We left at 9.30 and arrived back at 7.00 pm.  We got off the bus and crossed the old cobblestone lane to get a taxi and my foot caught in one and down I went.  I landed on my left side and my face hit but not my head.  I was okay just a little shaken but got up and caught a taxi back to the hotel where they kept me in ice packs to take down the swelling.  Monday morning I woke up with a magnificent black eye.  Here is a selfie I just took of myself.  I am living in sunglasses - sun or not. 

I also caught Sue.s cold and now when I cough I have to hold my sides and ribs and please don't make me laugh.

I will be back with some pics when we get them altogether.

ON THE ROAD TO IRELAND

Time has just flown since we returned.  The first week always does with all the food shopping, cleaning, getting organized, etc.  I have had my dentist 6 month cleaning this week so that is behind me.
Harv went the next day so he is done also. 

My daughter has done a tremendous amount of work for this trip.  She just found out last night that my Father's family moved from their little town to Belfast and has the address of his house.  It turns out that it is only about 2-3 blocks from our hotel.  I couldn't believe it. We will definitely go by there.  Apparently it is for sale and I suggested to Harv he might want to buy it.  I better not get any ideas.

We leave Monday 25 and return Monday June 1 so it will be a quick visit.

Will take lots of pics and show when we return.  Hugs Freda

ps - I am feeling back to my old self.  Thank goodness.

HOME AGAIN WED.

It has been almost 5 months since I last posted and what a 5 months it has been.  First we flew home for Christmas to be with Sue when she had her surgery.  We were able to spend Christmas with the 2 families and our 6 grandkids.  The Mon. after Christmas Sue had her surgery and I was so glad we decided to go up.  She had a very bad surgery - much more intensive and invasive  then her colon surgeon had anticipated. As he said, you never know what you are going to find until you get in there.  He found a massive tumor which had invaded her colon and bowel and it all had to be removed.  The one good thing is there was no cancer.  She was in a lot of pain that they could not control well and both Jon and I took turns being with her until the weekend after when she went home on the Sunday.

The horrible thing was Jon's Father Phil had a massive heart attack on the Fri. morning (the day after New Years) just as I arrived at the hospital they had called Jon and he left immediately.  His Father passed away before he got there.  Phil was cremated and Ann had a Memorial Service for him the following Mon.  Sue could not attend because she could not get around.  She did put together a wonderful family eulogy that a good friend of the family read.  We were all there and there were more people then I have ever seen at a funeral.  They invited all back to dinner at a nearby restaurant who could make it and I believe there were around 120 there plus all the ones who did not stay for that.  In the midst of this there was a raging snow storm and I wondered if we were all going to make it back to our homes.   It is usually about an hour drive from  St. Charles to our house.  Took us about 2 hrs. going 20 miles per h r.

  We stayed in Chicago a couple of weeks then back to Florida.  Sue had to go in for reconstructive surgery 6 weeks after and we did not go up for that.  She has healed well and we are so thankful.
Jon had a business dinner in Hawaii and they decided to take all 3 boys (school breaks all co-operated) and they had a great time.

I continued to have some health problems with my shoulders, neck and a persistent migraine type headache that played hell with me off and on for months that meds could not take away.. Some days I could hardly move my head. We took x-rays and finally an MRI and found that  I have 3 degenerative disks in my neck at C3 to C6.  They sent me to a pain management Dr. and he has started a series of epidural cervical shots.  I have had 2 - 2 weeks apart and my 3rd. is tomorrow morning.  This is why we are still in Florida.  They have really helped and I am feeling like my old self for the first time since last year.  Until then I did not feel like blogging, talking on the phone, etc.
I am also on muscle relaxants  3 times a day.  Will see what happens when I go off them.

I did continue working on my hexagons when I could and finally finished last week.  They were such fun to work with I hated to see them end.  I actually made more then I needed for a wall hanging and I will have to find something to do with them.  I have one idea that may work.  If I can remember how to post pics I will do so.

It was such fun working with colors like orange, lime green, hot pick, etc.  Have no idea where this will hang but someday maybe one of the grands would like it for an apt.

Thank you for being my friends and inquiring about my health as some of you had wondered where I was.  Well FredaB is back and I am also on Facebook.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

It has been 2 months since I have blogged and what a 2 months it has been.  I was suffering from back pain spreading into the legs and buttocks for awhile when we first came down to Florida late Oct.  Since then it became worse and I started on a series of tests, x-rays, scans, therapy and finally an MRI which showed 2 things causing the pain.  One is a cyst on my L3-5 spine area and the other a protruding and degenerated disk at L5-SI - both things pressing on nerves which cause the pain.  I am on pain pills and an exercise program to help alleviate it.  Next are shots in the 2 areas to see if that works. This will not happen until I return to Florida.

Next I was shopping in an area about 15 miles from Mount Dora and luckily Harv. was with me as he was going to get a haircut and then we were having lunch.  After coming out of the store I almost collapsed and was having a TIA.  I felt the numbness in my tongue, arm and leg but got in the van and told Harv.  He immediately took me to the nearest hospital.  By the time we arrived and they got me inside it had resolved itself.  A very small blood clot must have caused it.  They took every test imaginineable and could not find any cause for it. Also there was no lasting damage.I spent overnight there then they released me the second night.  Nothing to do but take a baby aspirin a day.  I feel fine and hope this is the end of it.

We also lost Harv's youngest sister Beth in Toronto in early December.  She was ill and taken to the hospital.  She was just there for 3 weeks and they determined she had Lymphoma cancer and before they could start treatment she passed away.  Her body was so weakened.  We were all in shock.

My daughter phoned me last Sunday night and informed me she had had a colonoscopy and they had found a small mass (oxymoron ?) that showed benign on the biopsy but has to be removed.  She is going in for surgery Mon. Dec. 29th to have it removed.  We immediately booked air tickets and flew home 2 days ago.  We will be with all the family for Christmas and also here for Sue and will stay a few weeks while she recovers.

All in all this is why I haven't been blogging.  I have been working on my hexies and have about 30 done. Working on them has kept me sane. When I return to Florida I will take pics and post them for you to see.

Merry Christmas to all my dear cyber friends wherever you are and hope you are able to enjoy your families and good friends at this time of year.

Hugs
FredaB

Here are three more of the hexies that I have finished.  I have 11 finished with the black border but have not done the feather stitching around them.  I am not sure if I want them all one colour or various colours.

10 pieced and embellished waiting for the black backing and 33 pieced waiting to be worked on.  Also 6 half ones for the filling in of the sides.  Depending on how large it will be I will not know until I get to Florida.  We are leaving around the end of the month.  I have 10 more pieces of muslin with the pattern drawn on them and will piece them if needed.

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