Thimble, Thimble...........

Friday.
Remember the St. Patty's dress I made for Araya from a pattern that I rigged up?  Well, in determining how much material to buy, I bought waaaay too much!  Actually, I had more left over than I needed for the dress!  I really don't know what I did!  I have an idea, but the fact remains, I bought too much!  Anyway, since I had more material to use, I asked Jessica to give me an idea of what else I could make with the leftover material.  This is what she requested.  A wrap around summer dress.  It is one piece that wraps around and fastens at the front where you see the snaps.  I even had enough to make a cute hat!  I have a feeling the hat will be too big!  But, maybe not!  Our family is know to have big heads, and not because we are conceited!  Brain power, baby!  :D  That's my story and I'm stickin' with it!

Anyway, I wanted to dress up the outfit a bit with a flower.  So, I used some of the yellow bias binding to make loops for the flower and added a BIG black button as the center.  I knew I needed to stitch this pretty well so that Araya would not be able to rip it off the first time she wears it!  However, the many layers to go through made for some sore fingers by the time I was done!  Time to buy a thimble!  :D  If my fingers had not been so sore by the time I got done, my intentions were to make another flower for the top of the little hat!  Ummm!  Not so much now!

I have to say that I absolutely love the little hat!  So much so that I think I'm going to try to find a bigger pattern for myself!  We'll see what happens!  :D

Close-up of the flower that was painful to make without a thimble!

The outfit will be in the mail tomorrow, Jessica!

So, Tim ended up at the doctor's office this morning to try to get some relief for his respiratory problems he has been having this week.  He called the office near 8:30 to see if he could get in.  They asked how far away he was.  When he told them 5 minutes, they said come in right now!  Long story short, he left with a prescription for some steroids for his cough and a z-pack of antibiotics!  He has been feeling much better today!  Thank you, Lord!

Our daily photo.

Time to do some reading before retiring.  Tomorrow will be a long day as I buy and get food ready for Buford's family and friends after the funeral on Monday.  Saw Ilene today.  She is holding up as well as can be expected.  She told me they have been members of our church for 28 years!  Buford will be missed!  He was such a blessing to the church!  We will see you in heaven, my friend!

Nite!

Heaven to Gain, Hell to Shun

Wednesday I went to visit a dear widow of a preacher friend of ours from WV who died almost 4 years ago.  She came down to babysit for the week for her daughter.  It was a wonderful 3-hour visit!

Last yesterday afternoon Tim was running a temperature of 101, which he is known to do when he has a cold, but it affects him differently than it used to.  I think it probably has something to do with the cancer treatments, but I don't know.  Anyway, I asked him if he was going to cancel the services, knowing before I asked that he would not.

Well, he did fine, except for the coughing, right up to the end of the service.  He got to the last couple of verses and without making comment on them, read through them quickly, asked Calvin to dismiss in prayer and he headed for the bench on the platform.  I knew he was probably feeling light headed and felt faint.  At least he knows to sit down now, unlike the first time when he pushed himself, thinking he could make it to the end, but he ended up passed out in the floor!

I asked one of the men to please walk with him over to the parsonage, knowing first hand that if he began passing out, I could not hold him and would not be able to get him up after he was down.  He started with chills at the house and asked me to throw some blankets into the dryer to heat up.  He took some Nyquil after awhile and finally went to bed so I could wrap him up in the warm blankets and add the regular bed clothing on top of those.  That was probably around 9 p.m.  He got up after about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  I went to bed at midnight.  He didn't come back to bed til 1:30.  Then he was back up at around 5 a.m.

No daily photo since Tim was not feeling great today.

Thursday
I've still had some stomach issues off and on, so I told him we just needed to stay home today so he could rest.  I didn't feel much like dragging around to a bunch of thrift stores today with my stomach being messed up.  I decided today would be a perfect day for some homemade chicken noodle soup.

By the time the soup was ready for lunch, Tim was ready to get out of the house and at least do our 2 Goodwills near us.  We left the house around 1:00.  We ended up going to the Salvation Army store down the street from one of the Goodwills, too.  All we found was a couple of books for me.

Later on in the day we decided to go someplace close for dinner.  We went to Zoe's about 5 miles from here.  My stomach still being a bit messed up, I only ate a few bites of my potato soup and half of my BLT.

Our daily photo taken at Zoe's

Also, for those of you who know Buford and Ilene Martin, Buford passed away today around 12:15 p.m.  Please pray for Ilene and the family.  His greatest desire is that his family members be prepared to meet God in heaven.  I pray through the testimony of Buford's life that his family realizes there is a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun!

Here's praying for a better tomorrow for Tim.  Nite!

Finished!

Monday I had a "complete physical" and the time allotted was 15 minutes!  How can you have a "complete physical" in just 15 minutes?  Well, I guess checking your ears, eyes, mouth, weight, heart, BP, pulse, lungs, and blood work was the physical.  Anyway, everything was good.  The only thing was my cholesterol was a bit high, but nothing they were worried about.  I've been instructed to reduce my fat intake and to get more aerobic exercise!  :D

AND, good news!  Your prayers have been answered.  Tim has been eating better the last couple of days!  Ummm, yes, that salad in front of me was delicious!  :D

Daily photo

Daily photo before digging into our roast and veggies dinner!  YUM!

This is in front of the house!  YAY!!  Is this a Narcissus or a daffodil?  It is smaller than the daffodils at church.

  

Jessica sent me a picture of a dress she liked and wanted for Araya for St. Patty's Day.  I started it last night and worked hard to finish it today so I can get it in the mail tomorrow!  I think it turned out super cute!  I took some pattern pieces and reworked them to suit my purposes.

Good nite!

Prayers for My Guy!

Only one picture today and it is of my guy and me!  So thankful to the Lord for him being in my life!  Don't know where I'd be without him!  I'm glad I don't have to worry about that!

The cancer treatment he is currently on is messing with his stomach.  He was not able to eat today because his stomach "just doesn't feel right."  We ate lunch at Arby's yesterday after we went to see Buford in the hospital and he couldn't eat again last night.  And he has eaten very little today.  His stomach is not nauseous, just still feels full.  Like his food is just sitting there.  Plus, he has drainage that is causing him to cough, so that might have something to do with his stomach, too.

Please pray for him.  I know most of you, if not all, who read this are praying!  He will have one more of the current cancer treatment, which is not working and all of the melanoma lumps are coming back again, and then he will have scans and the doctor will determine what to do next.  There are no more melanoma treatments available other than what he has already been on.......7 different ones.  The 2 treatments that have worked, worked radically!  But, his body becomes resistant to the treatment and it stops working.

The wound on his chest that he had radiation on is just not dying much.  So, soon he will begin a round of 10 radiation treatments - one per day for 2 weeks.  Thank the Lord we are only 15 minutes away from the Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist here in Winston Salem.  I have never given it a thought until now that this might be one of the reasons the Lord brought us to North Carolina.  I'm so glad He has control of our lives!

Tim will also have another brain MRI in a couple of months because one of the spots in his brain that had the gamma knife procedure was showing inflammation around it on the last MRI he had last week, so the doctor wants to keep an eye on that to make sure it is nothing else.

Blessings to all!  Love you and nite!

Lift Up Your Head!

Today was a beautiful day!  It started out just a tad bit chilly, but we went to visit Buford in our shirt sleeves when we went to the hospital this morning!  It was cool in the shade and in the parking garage, but what a beautiful day otherwise!  I noticed the red buds are in bloom, too!  And there are now LOTS of daffodils at church!  I love Spring!  Especially when it comes early!  :D

YAY for DAFFODILS!!

I thought of the song, "Redemption Draweth Nigh" when I saw the sky and the way the sun rays were streaming through the clouds!  So beautiful!  

Here are the lyrics:

1. Years of time have come and gone
Since I first heard it told
How Jesus would come again some day
If back then it seemed so real
Then I just can’t help but feel
How much closer His coming is today

CHORUS:
Signs of the times are everywhere
There’s a brand new feeling in the air
Keep your eyes upon the eastern sky
Lift up your head redemption draweth nigh

2. Wars and strife on every hand
And violence fills the land
Still some people doubt He’ll ever come again
But the Word of God is true
He’ll redeem His chosen few
Don’t lose hope soon Christ Jesus will descend

CHORUS:
Signs of the times are everywhere
There’s a brand new feeling in the air
Keep your eyes upon the eastern sky
Lift up your head redemption draweth nigh

I remember this song being sung back in the 60's.  So, verse one is still so true!  If we thought the Lord would come any day back then, just think how much MORE true that fact is today, 50 years later!  WOW!  Did I just say that?!

And then I got married in the 70's.  The preachers were condemning rock music, long hair and the mini skirts, which they should have.  I got rid of my 45's.  We began listening to Christian radio.  But, we still listened to the "oldies" or soft rock, I guess people would call it.  And the Lord still did not return.

In the 80's, the children came.  I can remember when Jessica was a baby that Brother Ginn preached a series on the book of Revelation and I figured the Lord would return before Jessica even began school!  And the Lord still did not return.

In the 90's, busy raising the kids and working part time or full time, trying to make ends meet while sending the kids to Christian School.  Tim was pastoring part time and working full time.  Those years were tough!  The kids started graduating.  And the Lord still did not return.

Y2K and some people thought that would be dooms day!  Nothing much happened!  More kids graduated, grandkids started coming, and by 2008 everyone was married and our nest was empty!  Those years were bitter sweet!  And the Lord still did not return.

Here we are in 2016.  The world has gone crazy!  Every perversion of the truth of God's Word has taken place in our America!  It's getting so that the America that God blessed to come into existence in the 1700's is not even recognizable as the same place!  And I believe God's judgment is on America.  And the Lord still has not returned!  But, the signs of the times are everywhere!  And I believe God could come any minute!  So, keep your eyes upon the Eastern sky!  Lift up your head!  Redemption draweth nigh!  Even so, COME, Lord Jesus!

Another angle.

Love getting the church steeple in my photos!

This is actually the Western sky to me, but it is the Eastern sky to someone!  Right?  :D

And last, but not least, my daily photo of my guy and me.

Don't forsake the assembly of God's people in church tomorrow!  Get out of bed and go!  Nite!

Better Now!

I have been sick since last Friday!  Gastrointestinal virus!  BLEH!!  So, I wasn't even taking pictures of Tim and myself for my daily photo!  I wasn't on the computer, either!  So you KNOW I was sick!  :D

Reading in my chair on (last) Friday, and out of the blue at 9:00 p.m. it hit me!  I went to bed after I spent quite awhile in the bathroom.  Saturday, still spent a lot of time in the bathroom, and had a terrible headache all day!  But I ate without too much stomach problem.......until 8:00 p.m.  I was in bed by 8:30, I believe!  Sunday morning, no better!  I asked the nurse at church to check on me before she went home.  She gave me medicine for nausea.  Monday I went to the doctor.  Got 2 shots and was told it was a virus.  Tuesday, diarrhea almost gone, but nausea still comes and goes, but the prescription for nausea the doctor gave me helped.  Wednesday, diarrhea gone, but still nauseous off and on.  Wednesday afternoon my stomach finally started feeling hungry a bit, but I still did not push it.  Mostly all I had eaten through the week was a banana, applesauce, maybe a slice of toast a couple of times and ate some rice in some broth and soup.  Mostly, just drinking Gatorade to keep hydrated.  Thursday, a touch of nausea when I woke up.  Ate some applesauce and was fine, basically, the rest of the day.  Today, Friday, NO MORE NAUSEA!!!  YAY!!  Felt really good ALL DAY!  Thank You, Lord!

Monday, Feb. 29th, after changing Tim's chest bandage and then went to bed.

Wednesday, March 2, before going to bed.

Heading out this morning, Friday, March 4th, to WV.

A beautiful day for traveling!  At least when we left!

Pilot Mountain in clear view.

The further north we went, the gloomier and cloudier it got.  Colder, too!

Virginia had a little bit of snow, but not too much.

Gas at home is almost $1.75 again.  Not in Wytheville, VA!  So we filled up!

Last tunnel from Virginia into WV.

After we stopped for lunch in Princeton, WV for Bob Evans (Exit 9), we took Exit 14 to take Rt. 20 into Talcott, WV.

Bluestone Lake.  Little bit of snow on the mountains.

Bluestone Dam at Hinton.

Rollynsburg Baptist Church where the preacher's fellowship was held today.  By the time we got to Talcott, there was no snow anywhere and the sun was breaking through the clouds!  For awhile, anyway!  When we left at about 7:45, a wet snow was coming down, but we drove out of it eventually.

Nite!