Pardon the absense

 My friends I am sorry it has been so long since you heard from me last. I began getting ill the last of Feb.. It steadily got worse and I spent many nights sitting up in great pain in my bladder and back. I finally got to thinking one night in July and realized I had started a new medicine in Feb., so I stopped taking it as it was not any thing that would harm me to do so. Within a few days I began to get better and am now back to myself thankfully. The doctor said it was affecting my kidneys. Enough about me!

Jack had a pretty good year until recently. In August we learned he has stage 3 kidney disease and has his first appointment with a nephrologist this coming week. Then in September his left leg swelled up, developed blisters and weeping quickly and scared us greatly! We called the doctor and started wound care that Monday once a week. We also had two visits a week for iron infusions as his iron was terribly low. All done with that now. He sees the wound doctor again later this month and may well be discharged from that as things are much better now. We also have a visit for Jack to a cardiologist as a precaution as the leg my be just a side effect of the kidney disease or could be congestive heart failure. Jack also has a terribly itchy, painful rash from the kidney issues. So it has kept me busy caring for him, Bozz, me and our home. However we are enjoying our selves!

Now for good and enjoyable things! Jack turned 70 the first of October. I took him to a restaurant in a town near by for his birthday. The dear people and customers sang happy birthday to him. He ws pleasantly surprised!

I also got Jack a lovely cross stitch for his birthday!

The Saturday before his birthday we went to Great Vespers at church and enjoyed the moonrise in a parking lot here in town before tucking in here at home.

We have a lovely batch of flowers this year and will be doing some work out front now the weather has cooled.

I am still working away on crocheting and stitching for others and a hat for me from "It Was Yarn"! And Jack is busy happily also.

Bozz is just, well, Bozz!

We are just living our lives leaving all in the Lord's hands! No worries just pushing ahead and taking life as it comes for good or bad! We are happy and blessed beyond measure and thankful too! Now good bye for now and I will try and visit other bloggers this coming week. Huggles and blessings.

A little talk and some crafts

 For those wondering how Jack is doing. That often depends on the day. some days are a struggle to walk due to balance issues and back pain as well. Those days are for more stitching and sitting hobbies. Other days are better and he can help with dishes and other chores. He also loves playing with Bozz kitty and laughing at his silliness. That silly cat is often full of so much energy and orneriness it isn't funny. Jack always uses a walker when leaving the apartment an I drive now as it is painful for him. All in all, we are thankful for so much and so blessed. I often have little projects to do for others and that is a joy. I am thankful for the lovely neighbors around us and our little apartment that is so easy to care for! Now, on to some crafty stuff we have been up to!

Yarn for a heavy cardigan for next winter for myself. I got the yarn at a very good sale price so that was good.

Doing an icon of the Protection of the Theotokos for our Priest's wife.

A poncho for those crisp days that is now finished.

A Christmas table toper for a friend.

Jack;s latest baby quilt for a friend.

An afghan waiting to be finished some day.

So here we are in our sweet little hometown and apaprtment doing the best we can, going to church as often as we can and just living our lives the best we can! Blessings and huggles!

Our Little Home

 

 I thought I would share pictures of our little home furnished. It has been stressful trying to settle in. We had to give up a lot including furniture and a lot of our hobby things. I had a hard time letting go of my gateleg table but it was sold at good Samaritan's even before we left. I was able to tell the lady who bought it a little of what I know of it. Now I am at a place where I am very content, and happy here. It is so easy to care for, we have good neighbors and a wonderful community as well. So without further ado, enkjoy the pictures of our little one bedroom haven. We are eager to finish up our little garden patch when it warms up!

Thanks for stopping by!

Long Overdo Post

 I am so sorry this post is so long in coming. While the surgery went well, the hospital refused to send him back to our hospital and sent him home only two days later after surgery. Mind you, the man still had a horrible infection and could not get up by himself. Also, the doctor had called the hospital and notified him he was to come back for inpatient therapy. Needless to say Jack had a fall again here at the apartment in the bathroom. It took four ems workers to get him out of the bathroom and in the ambulance.

He was readmitted as observation over the weekend for bedrest and serious iv antibiotics until the paperwork could be completed. He was very ill, lethargic, confused and in pain. They began working with him to regain upper and lower body strength that week. We had thanksgiving lunch together the next week at the hospital and Jack was getting so much better. The top picture is the day they sent him home. You can see how ill and weak he was.

He came home the day after thanksgiving. We were blessed to get our deposit back from our Joplin apartment and a blessing from a friend so I was able to set him up with a riser for the toilet, a new shower chair that extended out of the tub and many other things needed. Here he is using his tool for putting on his socks.

He needed a lot of care yet when he first got home but we made it work! He had therapy here at home twice a week and a nurse once a week. We did have a couple falls in the beginning that required lift assists from ems but is slowly got better. He worked so hard! Naps were required!

He was discharged from home care the end of January. He can now walk on his own steam some days here at home, such as nightly trips to the bathroom. But needs a walker at all times while out and about. We hope to return to church again soon. Our Priest has visited and kept a check on us as have so many of our church family.

In January, our former priest from Arkansas, now living in Colorado, and his lovely wife stopped in for a visit. Here we are and here they are!

I did mean to write this sooner but I got sick from stress and being exhausted in November and had a very bad uti in December. It's been rough but we are getting back to a new normal. Jack is even able to help with some things again. 

Blessings and I will write again soon.

A quick update

 In August Jack was admitted and transferred to a larger hospital. He was treated for a fib and released a couple days later.

Now Saturday last he fell landing on his knees. We went to the er Sunday morning just to make sure nothing was broken. Came home and it seemed he would be okay. That evening I could no longer get him up, hurting my back. He also spiked a fever so an ambulance was called and here we our. Now waiting for a room to open for transfer to Mercy in Joplin. Fluid has been removed from both knees and one seems to be infected. He has had several doses of antibiotics. He can not stand or walk and needs an orthopedic doctor to perhaps clean out the infection in the knees. We are in for a long haul. I brought up his needlework to keep him busy.

That in a nutshell is the craziness here. I will share the good things next time and updates.

Update, update, update!

Well it has been quite the month! We signed our lease on the first and got our key. It feels so strange to be in an apartment that is laid out just like my Grandmother's was. We have a sweet lady and her puppers next door. Looking forward to getting to know her better.

It has been terribly hot so we have been going early mornings with boxes and small things to try and beat the worst of the heat.Today was very nice with temp of 68 and some much needed rain on the way home. Last week and some of this week will see heat indexes into the 100's.Ugh!

Jack did have a fall and messed up his left hand but it is getting better, just swelling in the fingers to get better now. We will load and take furniture Saturday. There isn't much furniture to take thankfully! we really got rid of a lot. Let's see, we got rid of two desks, our dining table, an easy chair,a bookcase, two end tables and four loads in the car of small things. Our priest, Father Michael, took our little chest freezer and was very happy to have it!!!

 

Here are some pictures of our sweet little home! Oh and I love the refrigerator! It is much nicer than the one in the old apartment and bigger! We kept a bookcase to use as a pantry next to the fridge.

Thanks for visiting. Huggles and blessings!

Moving in July

 We have found a little one bedroom apartment in a farming community not far from Joplin. My father lived there for a few years until his passing in 2001. It's a really nice town and will put us closer to my brother as well. The rent is just over five hundred dollars. We received just enough help to pay the deposit and some of the first month's rent. Friends at church are paying for the moving truck and we will have friends from church loading the truck.

Such a blessing and we are looking forward to this new chapter. We, of course, have had to have a huge purge and some furniture will be donated to the DAV next week. Thankful for prayers too! They have helped everything fall into place. Quite honestly we could not have paid what the rent would be here. What we have been paying is a huge enough burden.

We need help!

 We are facing a very bad situation in November. Last year our rent went up 45 dollars to nearly eight hundred dollars a month. Yesterday we were notified it will go up 124 dollars more when our lease renews! That  is nearly 900 dollars a month. It will take all my check and some of Jack's  leaving us hard pressed to pay the electric bill and the three medicines we pay for let alone groceries and gas. We are trying to get a smaller place in a smaller town that will run us under six hundred a month. I know times are hard for us all but if you can help, bless you! Below is the link if you can help in any way!

Michelle's emergency moving fund

Looking for me?

 With life as it is right now, I simply do not have time or energy to post here on Blogger. I do however make small posts on Instagram. Just look up michelleozarkcrafter! Love to all and I will return to reading blogs soon!

Been a rough month

 Thought I should check in before the month is gone. It's been one of those months! Computer acted up and it took a couple days of fiddling for me to get it righted. Then my sewing machine started acting up and I am trying to finish a charity project using some very nice and expensive fabric! I have two of the three colors done but my machine this last act up nearly tore the fabric! Then I saw someone pt a small dent and a scratch to bare metal on the driver door of the car. I thought that was the worse of it but no!!!!

Early Thursday morning around three thirty I was woke up by a horrible crash and a loud cry of pain from my Jack. I found him in the bathroom, blood everywhere in the shower! He had fallen trying to use the toilet and landed in the shower hitting his face on the shower chair! The shower is right across from the toilet and it is a small bathroom. He was bleeding so badly I called for an ambulance. The next couple hours was spent in the E.R. He did damage to his nose cracking it a bit but the worse was an inch plus laceration that nearly went thru his lip. It took three internal stitches and four external to sew it up. Needless to say, he is also very sore and has a scuffed knee as well.

 

Now for the blessings of this month! Money has been sent to buy Jack a walker. I have found him a nice one with a seat and storage in the seat for under eighty dollars. And I am supposed to have a heavy duty singer machine here Tuesday from another friend. She wanted to buy it for me and I will pay here the money Jack was going to put in savings for me to get a new machine.

We have managed some crafting. One project I can not show you but here are some other things.

This is Jack's latest baby quilt

 I finished up some towel holders and got those sent off.

Also finished another cross table topper.

I also have orders for three of these prayers.

And of course Bozz is being Bozz!

Thanks for visiting! Blessings and huggles.