Friday, February 27, 2015

Quilter's Dream

This winter day I chose to share my recent dream with my fellow country women, or country women at heart, who also have retired, and have retired husbands.  All husbands are not the same, which is very good.  My husband and I have been married for almost 22 years now, marrying at ages 45 and 48.  Anyway, most marriages have issues, maybe of severe nature (hoping yours is not that way), but smaller ones, like mine, of listening and answering.  It amazes me the hearing and responding qualities that come into play in marriages/relationship of many years, even 22.

So on to my "crazy dream", which also includes crazy quilts because I am a quilter.  Also, I just finished a wonderful crazy quilt with old ties, and other silk and velvet fabrics, with many embellishments, which make it such a great piece.  Onto the dream....

I woke actually laughing a bit at my wild and wonderous dream the other night, which brought in the frustration I had had with my husband all week about his communication.  (Well, it was frustrating this week, but has existed for a long long time).  I had also finished my wonderful last quilting project, a crazy quilt.  My dream was that I walked into the kitchen and , whoosh, in front of me flew a crazy quilt and plastered itself on the side of the refrigerator.  This was shocking, a little bit of a fright, but also interesting to me as I like adventure.  Then another came past me and another.  Crazy quilts, but crazy quilt ghosts, wow!  The ghosts of my recent crazy quilt pieces I thought for one brief moment.  I had purchased old ties, etc. for piecing this quilt and as I had sewn it, I did wonder what their stories were.  So I called to my husband who was in the study at the other end of our house.  "Roy, come see this".....and the response...."What!"   More movements of crazy quilt ghosts.  I called again, "Roy....and before saying any more the answer is...."Why".   Finally some crazy quilt ghosts swished right up next to me and I screamed a bit....and before speaking....response from Roy was ...."Okay, just a minute!"  At this point in my dream the crazy quilt ghosts became my friends and I actually say them smiling at me.  My thought was, oh, how wonderful my quilt and knitting projects are to me, and it is okay to talk to the pieces and have some wonder about where they have been.  Even in doing a new fabric quilt, like I am doing now, I can have conversation with myself and the "ghosts to come" from my black and white quilt, my English Paper Piecing quilt, and my embroidered teapot quilt, all of which I am working on currently.

And for Roy....well, I just don't think at age almost 70, I should plan to get any other types of answers.  If I was in real danger, I do have my Daisy Mae Foxhound.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Winter Sicknesses


Winter brings many ups and downs in the weather and it all seems to bother our health.  I have asthma and I know if I get a cold, it just makes my life harder.  With that said, I also have family and friends that often think it completely okay to stop and visit me when they are sick.  I just don't know what it is in the thought process.  They know to stay away from others, not go to classes, lessons, even the YMCA if they are sick.  But when it comes to me, it seems they think I am always okay so it will be okay.

I stay pretty healthy.  I also work at staying pretty healthy.  I exercise often.  I walk my Daisy Mae Foxhound several times a day in the great country air.  I go to the YMCA and swim laps and do yoga.  I do all of this because I want to be healthy. I clean and wash and take care to rid our home and my body of germs.  This does not mean I am having a phobia about it.  I want to be well.

With all that said, I just don't understand why people actually get upset and even rude when I tell them to not visit, or I cannot have you come stay the night if you are sick.  They try to even make me feel guilty about it.  For just a little while I did feel guilty when I would not have a family member come for a few nights when their other family went on a trip.  But really, they were sick, or said they were.  They could not go to the YMCA with me because they were sick, but thought I should also stay home with them.  Now really, that is not what my retired life is about.  It also is not what my healthy life is about.  If they are too sick to go other places, they are too sick to come stay with me.

In writing all of this, I am just wondering if it is the people in my life that just don't get it.  Maybe you have the same problem in your life.  Hopefully not, but if you do, please don't even for one minute take on guilt because you say no to people when they are sick.  It is important for each on of us to know our health and our body and our desires for staying healthy.  I know that if I get congested, I get worse then lots of people and even end up in the hospital.  I take pride in the fact that I have not been in the hospital for four years now, with bronchial stuff.  I know that it is because I am saying no.  I know it is because I am putting my health first before doing favors for others, or letting them slide on coming and coughing, sneezing, and making my house contagious.  

Still, a part of me says, well, maybe I should care more!  I care that they are sick, but stay home and get well, which will help both of us, and the world around us.