SENIOR LIFE--

 I was thinking about all the 'trials' that us seniors have in life--this past week--and I noticed that most of the blogs I read--well--alot of you 'fall' into this part of your life, too!!

Some of those trials are good--some are bad-- and some are just plain --pain the body--challenges!!!

When we are growing up--our bodies went through alot of changes--but we barely notice them--we are too busy thinking about the next play date, or adventure, or how much trouble we could get into--!!!!

Then we show up -- into adulthood all excited about finally being on our own--to do and to go where ever we want to --

And then one day we wake up to a whole new set of  'life' challenges and this one is called--unfortunately--

OLD AGE--the term--SENIOR--and we are no longer that young 'dreamer' and we have a whole set of 'life' things to figure out--

So --my aim for this next year is to on Mondays, start a new sets of posts called--Senior Life--and we can address all the 'challenges' we face -- and how we are handling those challenges or can someone help us with this newest challenge in our life--?????

This can become a weekly--every other week or a monthly--thing???

What is your thoughts????

I will start this 'new' idea with my thoughts on shopping--

As you probably remember I am a in charge of scheduling a Monday morning Van service here at this senior living place--and today's trip was to Walmart--

Year's ago --when I used to take my Mother shopping--(she passed away in 1995)--she would get out of the car and say to me--"I am tireder than if I had cleaned house all day!!!"   At the time I did not really understand what she meant--well --now I do--I love to go shopping--even for groceries--BUT--by the time I get home--I am exhausted--I go in the mornings when my 'brain' is the sharpest--but by the time I get home--my whole body feels like I have run a 10K race-- and forget how the brain feels at this point--I could really go curl up in bed and take a good nap--but I don't--!!  I still want to get something accomplished--so- I  just sit in my rocker and hand stitch the rest of the day--but I keep on keeping on!!

So maybe this month's challenge posts can be--all the challenges Seniors face doing their shopping??

Let me know if you are interested in this topic and what are your thoughts--

HAPPY NEW YEAR--AND WELCOME TO--2026

THE SNOWMAN MONTH--AS LEAST THIS IS WHAT I DECORATE WITH DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY--WHAT DO YOU DECORATE WITH???

AND  HOW MANY NEW STITCHING PROJECTS ARE YOU PLANNING FOR 2026???

HUGS, DI

MORE FINISHES FOR 2025

 First up is --

I got the Crow Cross stitching piece--that I started in Dec of 2024--

 totally finished piece--I even had the red and white braid that they used on the model piece in the pattern--that doesn't happen very often--I even had the little snowflake button that is on the big red package that the mouse is sitting on in my button box, too!!!!

Two--not just one--but two more wall hanging sized quilts where totally finished this week--

this is my bright colored paper piecing set of Hexies-

And this heart one is all hand quilted and ready to enjoy--had a real hard time finding something in my stash for the binding--this is as close as I could get to the colors in the border--it was/is an odd color of pink--!!!!

And this table cloth--

I did not embroider this one--can't remember if someone gave it to me to finish or if it was a thrift store find--but I have had it for years--yep--for years now--it needed to be hemmed--you have NO idea how many times I have laid it on the ironing board to be finished and then it would get put away--before I did anything with it--well--yesterday it was on the ironing board--once again--and I wanted to clean and move that area around--but I made myself sit at the machine and finish this--it took less that 20 minutes, I believe, and now it can be used after a washing--  I also hemmed a new pair of flannel pj bottoms that was on the ironing board--so good for me--I guess!!!  

And I did get the moving and sorting of the sewing area finished--though I still need to do some 'setting' up yet there--but today's job was hauling out all the craft totes from the clothes closet and going through all that and mopping the closet floor--got that done just before lunch--so when I get done here--it has to get put back into the closet!!!

And one more little baby sweater has been finished and added to the bag--that bag that I  collect the finished sweaters in is nearly full--won't be long now and they will all need their buttons and get sent off to World Vision--

And who turned the heat down so low for Florida?????  it was only 39 this morning at 7am!!!  and a high of only 58 here today--OUCH!!!  but good cleaning out closet weather!!!!

WELL--HERE IS GOOD-BYE TO 2025 IN A FEW HOURS--

AND A HELLO TO--

FOR 2026----

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR--HUGS, AND BLESSINGS, DI

 

TODAY IS THE DAY------

 Merry Holiday to each and everyone who reads this post and my regular posts--

A special wish for each of you--remembrance of why we celebrate today--

Blessings, Di

IT'S HERE---

 

THAT MAGICAL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!

just 2 days away and all  our hard work and plans for this holiday time will nearly be over and then we gotta get geared up for the next one --next week--fun times at the OK corral--that is for sure--a whole new beginning on a whole new year!!!!

It's been awhile since I was able to get on here and do a post--I feel bad that it has been so long once again--but here is where some of my projects are --

As for the Mrs Claus--she is now in time out--but here is where I left off on her--

The stand beside here is done and part of the rocking chair up in the wreath is done--when she comes back out from "time out" I will be starting with her face and head--there by the rocker back--

She had to go to time out cause I remembered that the Crow and Mouse was in time out and they were shouting at me to finish them this year--so out they came--

This is where I left off last Christmas--they needed alot of snow on the ground under them--and that has been added --and somehow I left off the 2nd tall candy cane at the end of piece next to the tree and that has been added -- and then there is alot of 'snowflakes' falling in the back ground and I am now working on them--want to totally finish this by the end of the year!!!

About 2 weeks ago I got a letter for my girlfriend in NY--hinting at another pair of knitted socks and she is lucky, cause I had a skein of sock yarn in her colors and was able to start on knitting them--took me 8-9 days to get them knitted working late afternoons and all evening--

Was working on the toe part and got the first one done-all excited--only--only to discovered, that I had knitted the toe in sideways!!

Opps-so some unknitting took place and we started over--remember I knit my socks--on 4 needles--but I do them both at the same time to certain points--so when I get  done--I have a pair!!

finally got both of them to the end and successfully did the Kitchener stitch on both of them to finish off the toes--just in time to get them in her Christmas box!!!!

Then, I was able to get back to doing some hand quilting on this one--

I am on the green patches now!!!  I missed hand quilting while I was doing all the fast knitting!!!

I bought this tall blue Santa--last March at Beall's on a clearance sale--

But that 'tree' color bothered me--it looked nearly 'brown' to me--so out came the green paint and the brushes and it got painted green to match another Santa that I had--

And then I looked for some kind of 'glitter' stuff to paint on the tree to also match this one--

and I did find one by Folk Art--it's like a Mod Podge with glitter and I gave it goot coat--

and here they are on the Window ledge--the glitter came out just right--you will have to take my word for it--as it really did not show up in this photo?????

I have still been finding 'mold' and cleaning yet on that problem--but I have hopefully found it all--and now have 2 medium sized and 1 smaller sized dehumidifiers running full time in the this tiny apartment-the gauge is suppose to be under 60--though often during the day it goes to 70---but I am keeping my eyes open--so---

I did discover last week that some of my wicker baskets had a bit of mold--so they all got emptied and sprayed down good with white vinegar and a night of drying in the bathtub--took me 2 days to do them all--have about 15 or so--think I like wicker baskets??

Ok--back to Christmas--I have managed to do some decorating this year--

Here is my tree--with 2 baskets of gifts --for me-one basket is filled with the gifts my girl friend sent me from NY and the other one is filled with gifts my daughter sent me--that furry 'thing' is the big Owl I got 2 years ago from walmart--

The foot of my bed and the head of my bed--all these pillow I made years ago!!!

The little Nativity was my Moms-- I know I have had it for 30 years--so don't know how old it is--(what--30 years--where oh where did those 30 years go???)  I made 2 of the angels again long long time ago and I did the angel cross stitching--maybe 20 years ago!!!

And a couple baskets of my small cross stitching--most of these are newer one's I've done in the last 6 years or so--!! Many are Melisa's patterns--and I have several more I plan to do in the new year!!

I have most of my presents wrapped for my son and daughter in law--am going there Christmas Eve to celebrate, and to celebrate my daughter in law's birthday on the 29th--I ordered her birthday cake today to pick up on the 24th--I still do have one more gift for my son to make--making him some Star Wars placemats---tomorrow--at least that is the plan!!!

I WISH EVERYONE A WONDER BLESSED HOLIDAY--AND JUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THE REAL REASON FOR THIS SEASON--

THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOR --JESUS--

LOVE AND HUGS, TO ALL--DI

ARE WE REALLY ONLY 31 DAYS TO A NEW YEAR????

 Well--life is still rolling right along--and I have 'no' idea where I am  ---or where any of us are???

Everyone is talking about Christmas and some of you are in such a big hurry that you decorated the day after Halloween--I finally got to go through my Fall tote on November 23--yep--just 4 days before Thanksgiving!!  I ended up missing decorating for Fall, Halloween and, mostly for Thanksgiving--

I did leave out these little pillows for the week--as I knew they would fit in the top of the tote before taking it to storage--when I get the Christmas decorations out!!!

Had a lovely Thanksgiving day and dinner at my son and daughter in laws on Turkey day!!  Sarah did an 18 lb fresh turkey that did not want to get 'done'--we finally had to turn the oven up more--!!

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I have been still struggling with energy and alot of muscle spasms especially in my left leg--so that has slowed me down too!!!

But have had some good days, here and there, where I am cleaning and organizing and getting rid of--actually went though my fabrics and donated 4 bags to my quilt guild last week--and am even thinking about some new projects--been awhile since I was energized enough to think about doing something new!!

Today I finished up the china cabinet with the blue dishes and even put a string of fairy lights in the blue flower arch that hangs over the top of the cabinet, before I put it up there!!  first real creative thing I have done in awhile!!

and I moved a couple pieces of furniture around--to get ready to put up the Christmas tree--but first --tomorrow after going to get some new eyeglasses --I still have this corner to clean where the TV is and a new sound bar to try to hook up--it's always some project to be done before we can do the actual project we want to do!!!!

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Update on the 13 point dish cloths--I did later that day finally figure out how to do them--

Have 3 done and a 4th one on the needles--I also have gotten a couple more baby sweaters done and one hat--

I finished the hand quilting on the pink heart quilt--

and the other day I even had time and energy to go through my fabrics to find a fabric for the binding--it was not easy to find something to 'match' this shade of pink--but I did it--the strips are cut--now to find the ironing board and sewing machine area to sew--(right now that is where the Fall tote is and the thrift store donations are!!!)

I am now working on this quilt for hand quilting--

I have just 2 more flowers to do --the inside hand quilting on--but, lots of other hand quilting to yet around the flowers!!!!

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I have been steadily working on Mrs Claus counted cross stitching--of course some days I have to take a a few 'hundred' stitches out that I put in--and redo some--but it is growing!!

And here is where I left off today--under that lantern is a side stand--gonna do that next before I go back up to the rocker and start on Mrs Claus!!!!

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And one of the Catci that I got last year, at this time --had one--yep--one bloom last week--

But it was a big one!!!!

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While at my daughters in October, she had someone put up a wire tree in her back yard that has all kinds of lights in all colors and combo's on it--I though how pretty one of those would look on our patio out front--the other day, after going out the back door to walk around and throw some recycle out and then walk to the front door and as I walked up on the patio area--look what I seen?????

Got to out after dark and have alooky see!!  one of these nights!!!

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I am sure everyone is in a Christmasy mood starting today--so --take care and don't forget to be good to yourself and take a break now and then--

hugs, di

WHERE I AM ON STITCHING TIME

 Yes--I have done some stitching and knitting--though not very fast----

First up is counted cross stitching--

While at my daughters--once we got home from the hospital--I worked on this piece each morning--I developed a habit of doing some counted cross stitching each morning while I was in New York the year I had shingles so bad--2018--and I have kept it up--I got the tree done and started on the little fox--and finished him and the words when I got home--I had to but the word 'air' under the tree because for some reason it didn't fit up above!!!--but I kinda 'like' it where it is!!!

and I have been now working on Mrs Claus--

The first picture shows how I am trying to 'control' all the colors--by coloring in the different colors of all the greens in the wreath--can't say it totally helped--somehow I was still off a bit--but all I can say is--it's my 'version' of the large Christmas wreath--and I did stitch in the globe part of a lantern--to make sure the wreath would come out in the right space--will start on the other side of the globe now--and there is still work inside the globe!!

I also did some knitting--even did some in the hospital--and got this little sweater finished-

and since I have been home-I set up and actually finished a larger one--

and yes--there is another one or two on needles--plus a couple hats--but--

I also want to knit some more of the '13 point' dishcloths for Christmas gifts again--but am having trouble with remembering how to do them--grr!!!!

I have also worked on the hexie project some--

and am working on the hand quilting of this smaller quilt--

I am ready to find a stencil for the outer border--

I have been working at a very slow pace in the last 2 weeks--lots of issues here within the building I have had to deal with--

As you might of remembered I was dealing with a mold issue before I got the call to go to Illinois-and had more to deal with when I got home--took 2 full days to clean all the kitchen drawers and cupboards--it was mostly wooden items--but knew that everything needed to be washed and all cupboards and drawers washed out--I even bought the little gauge to let me know how high the humidity was in the apartment--it should be reading 60 or under--not in the 70's--I have dehumidifiers running --one really small one--and tomorrow another one should be coming-- but our weather has changed too--and this past week it had read between 35 and 50--so we will see going forward how it goes--for now--so far--no new found mold--my girl freind has used the above product in her A/C for years and never has mold--so we will see!!!!!  Also came home to "ghost ants'--hoping I have that under control now--too!!!

Have been on 2 adventures--

Carolyn and I went last Friday to Harvest Thyme Cafe and tried Lemon french toast--and it was yummy- and then Cheryl and I went to Jade Palace on this Friday and I had my favorite there--Sweet and sour Chicken and fried rice--

There is still the trip home to tell you about--but will wait on that for another day--

WELL--IT'S TIME TO REALLY THINK ABOUT GIVING THANKS--AS IT IS TIME FOR THE TURKEY CALL---

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR ALL MY BLOG FRIENDS AND WHEN YOU LEAVE ME COMMENTS--EVEN THOUGH I HAVE BEEN TOO EXHAUSTED TO LEAVE YOU ALL COMMENTS--PLEASE FORGIVE ME--SOON--I WILL BE BACK TO NORMAL--WHAT EVER THAT IS????

HUGS, AND BLESSINGS, DI

A memory here--I did have a job in a craft store--and got lots of '0' paychecks!!!!