The Women who came before......

Paul came across this picture while compiling photos for the DVD in honour of our Mom.
The young girl in the front, Mary Ann, would be my Great Aunt. The woman behind her is my Great Grand mother, Hannah, on the right my Great Great Grandmother, Sarah and on the left, my Great x3 Grandmother Catherine.
The only one with a hint of a smile is Granny Jones. She was obviously a widow hence the black ensemble.

The other two women are pretty stern. It must have been impossible to relax strapped into those corsets. Sarah, on the right, was a miserable woman who decided my grand mother , also named Sarah was going to come and live with her. There was no discussion. Pack your bag you are going and that's all there was to it. My grandmother was still in school at the time. Her grandmother was a tyrant. Mam had no social life and everyone was surprised when the tall quiet town "Bobby" began to "walk her out." My Grand mother was 5 years older than my Grandfather. This is their wedding picture: I see my mother in her face. Mam had a stroke and passed away 4 months after my mother's 16Th birthday.

My wonderful quiet grandpa looked the same his whole life. He was the youngest of 4 boys, his three older brothers all became clergymen. Grandpa didn't speak until he was 7 yrs old. He had a speech impediment and a Welsh accent. I never had any trouble understanding him.
This is my Mom. My mother had all these baby gowns and when I was a little girl she cut them all up and made slips for me. Makes me cringe to think of it. But that was my practical Mother. These gowns were all hand made.
This is my Mom at 3 yrs, she looks like her mother. I miss her so much........sigh
Three more sleeps and we are off on the plane to Pacific Mexico. I want to get away so badly.
I am worn out.

Not for the squeamish.........

Went to the doctor today for a follow up. It is as bad as it looks. Take my word for it.
When it happened it hurt dreadfully, the sight of it now is justification for the pain. It is so swollen my toes tingle. I can't put weight on it yet the sole of my foot is swollen as well. The black mark is the location of my femoral pulse. They used a magic marker that won't wash off. My wrists are sore and my armpits are too from using the crutches.
I just wrapped it again because is continues to swell without the bandage.
edit: Saw the Dr. it is a level 2-3 sprain.

A whole world of hurt

Here we are a week later. My world has been turned upside down and given a thorough shaking. I never did like a roller coaster ride. Time to pick up the threads and knit my life back together. Instead of looking at gaping holes I have to think of them as lace. We met so many of her friends and I learned things about my Mother I hadn't known before.


It was true, when I think about it, our mother never said good bye when we were talking on the phone. We joked about how one minute she would be there and then "click" she was gone. Turns out she did it with every one. Phrases like "Well I won't keep you any longer ...click" and "That's all for now ...click" were common place.


Last Saturday morning she wasn't well and the nurse asked if she would like someone to be called, "Oh no," she said and then she just went to sleep.


She used to tell us, that when her time came, if she went in her sleep we were not to mourn her but be glad she did not suffer. I will agree with that but I will still mourn her passing. My little brother ( lol) has posted about Mom over here.


And now......In the what in the world could happen next scenario.......


Carl went to the doctor yesterday and he has bronchitis. Not severe but in time to nip this in the bud as we will be in Mexico 2 weeks from today. Last night he ran a hot bath and had just settled in when........I fell in the side hall at the top of the basement stairs. It is a wonder I didn't pitch right down the stairs. I caught the railing just in time.


Evan came running. I thought I had broken my ankle. Poor Carl had to get out of the tub get dressed and start the car. I couldn't seem to get up on my good foot I was terrified on loosing my balance and A. falling down the stairs and taking Evan with me or B. loosing my balance and standing on my shrieking ankle. The ambulance was called. Four hours later, 6 X-rays ( do you know how many bones are in the foot?) and I was home. The Doctor in emergency said to me, "I am sorry it's not broken." I know sounds funny but he explained it to me. A break heals in a given time a sprain lingers on and on and on... So I have crutches now. I will probably need a cane by the time we leave for Mexico. I will have to be careful not to go over on my ankle in the next couple of months. Oh and the old house slippers. The ones with no tread on the bottom. They are now in the rubbish.


Oh gentle readers I am not finished with my tale of woe. They sent me home with a vial of tablets for pain. It appears I do not tolerate codeine any more. I was up at 3 am with stomach pain and the dry heaves. Oh joy oh bliss.


I am sporting a dandy bruise on my right wrist and I have wrenched the thigh muscle on the same leg as the damaged ankle. Could be worse I could have wrenched the other leg then I would be well and truly scuppered.


Here are Gran's Brood. She was so proud of them all:
Back row: L to R: Corinne (mine), Amanda (Paul), Matt ( David), Michael & Evan & Julia (all mine) Front row: L to R: Doug (David) & Stephanie (Paul)

They kept us laughing.
As David put it, "We are now the senior generation." Sobering thought, eh?
Paul and Debbie, Susan with Carl, Ghislaine and David

My Mummy

Hannah Davies Cottrell

May 20, 1925 - Jan 2, 2010
".... her children rise up and call her blessed."

The First Day

No resolutions here!
Just wanted to get that out of the way right off the bat.
Goals...yes!
New Header to start the year. Explanation is as follows:



Last Spring I purchased a lot of fleece with the intention of spending my summer days off work spinning in the garden. Well summer didn't lend itself to tranquil days and the whole plan fell through. This year I would like to take up spinning again. It would be nice if Mother Nature would co operate.
Looking at this sweet little Irish Granny's face reminds me I better up my RRSP deposits.






IN grade 9 I read War and Peace and loved it! It was my first introduction to an epic novel. One of my teacher's said to me,"You can't possibly follow that book. I whipped out my biography page. Every time a new character appeared in the story I added them to my list. It would be nice to read that again.



I have always thought that Gardenias are the most beautiful flower. The fragrance is very heady and although the petals are thick and waxy they are still very delicate. This year I would like to remind myself to take a moment to smell the flowers.

...especially gardenias.



With respect to Queen Victoria's memory this is my symbol for the Queen Susan Shawl from the Ravelry Heirloom group. My yarn has been ordered. I am studying the pattern and I have begun a swatch to get my fingers used to the fineness of the wool. More about this in the coming year on the knitting blog.




This year I would like to finish one of my books and send it to a publisher. It is a murder mystery. I have been held upon the identity of the murderer. Everyone I thought of seemed so obvious. This morning it struck me. It all seemed to fall into place. Motive and opportunity. Now I just have to force myself to re read what I have written and decide if it is a good as I think or if it is, as I suspect, unmitigated drivel... Progress on this front will be found on the writing blog.

Between my life with my dear man, knitting, writing and working full time I forsee a very busy year.

Post Christmas/Pre New Year's limbo

We have entered that no man's land between left over turkey and putting away all the decorations for another year. I traditionally do that New Years Day. Everything looks so bare afterward. If I eat another cookie I swear I will bust. I have been non stop munching. Carl had to work Christmas Day in the evening. Boxing Day we went to see Mom in the hospital. She wants out of there. Well, actually she wants to go home. I am not going to be the person to tell her that is not going to happen. She is weak but has her faculties...most of the time. Which is a great relief. Now if we could get her moved somewhere a little nicer we would all be happier. I mean how hard could it be to put her chair by the window. They want her to sit up each day. Parked in a corner staring into a bleak hospital room .... blech! Poor Mummy, I cried on the way home. I hate leaving her.
I woke up this morning with that dry scratchy throat that usually heralds laryngitis. Oh joy... oh bliss..sarcastic comment by me. My nearest and dearest mumbled something like, "Oh that is too bad." (me thinks I detected a snicker) So here I am on my break at work. My throat hurts to talk on the phone. As long as it doesn't ring I may actually get something done.


After lurking on the Gossamer Web Group on Ravelry I have decided on my Major project for 2010. I am going to knit The Queen Susan Shawl. I am up for a challenge and this should just about fill the bill. I emailed Fleegle with my yarn choice and I have started to swatch with some cobweb merino I had in my stash with some 1.75 mm needles. I have knit with 1.25 mm before. So I mean," How hard can this be?" Sure tempt the knitting gremlins, fool. I downloaded the 73 page pattern and have given it a cursory read. Some major studying is in order. It appears to be basic stitches and I will concentrate on completing the center panel before I move on to the edgings. Choices choices I have to pick which center I will knit. That will be the second step.

The first step was deciding on colour. I was all set to go for a deep Isle of Capri Blue when this appeared before me. Ergo, I have decided upon this delightful yumminess, called Black Plum! Merino, Cashmere and Silk.
When I am old.....I will wear luxury!

I have also started a new picture header for the blog for 2010. Choosing the pictures has always the most fun. Narrowing them down to three or four is the hard part. I would like to represent the Queen Susan Shawl as that will be my major knitting project this year. It is still up in the air what else I will choose. Stay tuned for that. Back to the shawl. I will be tracking the progress on the knitting blog. I may add a progress bar over here just for fun..and to keep me focused. Three weeks and 2 days and I will be basking in the sun on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.....sigh

Merry Christmas

Well, I hope everyone has had a Happy Christmas. Carl got called into work so that meant we had to have our Christmas supper at 2 pm. It has been a quiet day. I tried to call my Mother (at the hospital) there was no answer. My brother and sister in law and nieces were there today and By all accounts she ate a roast beef dinner and cherry cheese cake that Deb brought in. Hopefully Mom was sleeping it off. Tomorrow we are going to see her.
Carl just called he is on his way home. We are going to have our coffee and pie at 9pm. Probably not a good idea for me I will end up with killer heartburn. Ah well it is Christmas.
Thought you might get a kick out of this picture. Recognize the ponytail? Yup, that's Gene Simmons. He and Carl (on the right) had quite the chat while Carl was driving them around. I was impressed that Gene sat up front like "real people."

It's very disappointing.....

I am a trusting soul I know. You think I would learn but noooooo.
Poop
I went out to my car this morning and the inside was a tip. I forgot to lock the door last night. The glove compartment was emptied, the storage box between the front seats was emptied. They even went through the litter box.
Missing: one Rosary, (how low is that?) and my cup full of change ( my emergency coffee money).
I would have a little more compassion if they had taken the hat, mitts, scarf and the quilt of the back seat thinking perhaps they were cold and alone. They obviously have no literary skills.There was a Chapters bag with 2 new books left behind.
If this tale sounds familiar it is because It has happened before. As I said you think I would learn!
So, whoever you are I have one word for you, KARMA.
I will not let this bother me. My Mother continues to improve a little "loopy" at times but forgivable in a "little old lady." I just want to see her back up on her feet and out of that hospital. The rest of my family is thriving and I am better now that I have ever been.

Christmas week.......

If you haven't read Franklin's latest cartoon then I would suggest you go do so now. I laughed so hard.
Here we are at Christmas Week and I am over whelmed. My mother is on the elevator of reality again. When I got there yesterday she very politely asked me,"...and may I ask who you are?" Then the "doors open" so to speak and she is back with us before she is gone again to another floor. It was a very stressful visit. My brother will be at the hospital today to demand some explanations. We will have a conference via Skype tonight.
My computer at work did a nasty on Friday...ahem...user error. Sometimes we can't blame everything on computers. Good thing I have my own personal IT Tech. About 8 hours to unscrew what I screwed up. Go figure one click at the wrong time.
I discovered a new toy and amused myself last night creating Tattoons of my nearest and dearest.




I dare say they will have no trouble identifying them selves. I am going to do the grand daughters next.

Two Advil morning

Yesterday was a three Advil morning, I am being optimistic.

We arrived at the hospital to find Mummy sitting up in bed. A little confused but chatting away. David looked at me, as if to say, What are you doing to me? Hey, I said ask your brother. She knew who we were. Paul almost fell over when he arrived and saw her. I said, "Please tell your brother about the last three days." The Dr never came in to see her. I am sure he thought there was no point. By the end of the day she was munching on a donut and sipping a Pepsi. Two things she seldom if ever asks for. One of her grand sons was there also. We all laughed and talked all afternoon.

I think this is an "energy surge" the last hurrah so to speak. Not to doubt the efficacy of prayer and if she continues to improve this is a gift from God. Sure, she will get stronger and I am ready to collapse. Today I am going in to work for the day. I have to call the chiropractor as my right side is in spasm I can hardly type and I have so much to do. David will call after he sees her today and after he talks with the Dr. She had a CT scan yesterday.

Thank you all for your prayers.

Abbysmum: I am going to the book shop after work and look for those titles. I need some escapism right now.