I am thankful

For this new day,

for a decent night’s sleep considering,

for love and support at this time,

for sweet wonderful memories,

for God’s love,

for our little cottage and compound that we made into our haven

over the 39 years that we’ve lived here.

***

Last night before heading to bed

I opened my Bible and read this verse in Psalms.

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep:

for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

****

Miss Tork sleeps with me now. She’s been very vocal the past few weeks and maybe it was because she knew something we didn’t. She was walking around meowing for now reason, I think she was letting us know she was here. Our routines definitely weren’t the same. She did get up on the bed a few times with DH they did a little more bonding.  A couple of times she would lay right beside his legs when I was massaging them. The past two nights she has gotten onto my chest/stomach area facing me and starts kneading and purring. Every once in a while she will stretch out her arm’paw and touch my neck, then she rubs her head into my chin. It is so comforting.

I just finished eating the other 1/2 of the ‘meatloaf melt’ sandwich I had with my friend Nanci yesterday. There are two more thick slabs of meatloaf for two more meals in the fridge. This place always gives gigantic portions of food. I’m now having my second cup of coffee.

The tree is lit. I’ve been up since 4, read emails, visited blogs, cried some more and then edited some photos for this post.

This first photo is of what will be my first and only quilt. It is for us. It is all being sewn by hand, as I hate using a sewing machine. Hand sewing is comforting to me.

As you can see, it has a paisley theme. We have loved paisleys since we were dating. I had these squares cut out for 2 years and procrastinated. But with DH being bedridden these past 3 months, I sat and worked on this as we talked, or he rested and I was quiet.

The paisley is an ancient symbol. I believe I found the following info on Wikipedia.

Some design scholars also call the distinctive shape Boteh and believe it is the convergence of a stylized floral spray and a cypress tree:

a Zoroastrian symbol of life and eternity.

The squares are all from skirts I could no longer fit into, except for the light two squares on the second row, which my friend Chris sent me when I told her about this project. The middle square on the third row is one of four squares cut out of the remaining one of a pair of matching shirts we had when we dated, long, long ago. The first two rows are sewn together, the third one I’ve just started on. I have crocheted embellishments to sew on, and will also do embroidery on this quilt. The idea was created with love, and the quilt will be a labor of love in every stitch. It won’t be perfect, but we weren’t perfect either. None of us are. Love covers a multitude of wrongs. We grow, learn and become stronger in love.

My DH was my mentor, my encourager, my very best friend. I can feel him encouraging me to work in my gardens, keep working on projects, keep creating. I am forever thankful for our life together, and it isn’t over yet. He is just on the other side of the veil, that I can’t see through. He is waiting, and I am too, earnestly for our reunion. It will be grand.

Here is another shot of the flowers from the garlic vine.

Before I left for the hospital Sunday morning, I went out into the gardens to see what I could pick to take to DH. I found a few roses and tied them with some glittery thread. They are now pressed in my Bible.  Here is the little bouquet after I got back home. The two little hearts are something I want to make more of. Hearts and flowers are two of my favorite things.

There was some thundering going on last night and we got some much needed rain. My gardens really needed some liquid sunshine, as they’ve been pretty much neglected these past few months. I was nurturing elsewhere, giving and receiving a love that is priceless.

Never take things for granted. Don’t think you have time. Do things now. Create loving memories, because you don’t know when it will be all you have left.

Love and hugs dear friends,

FlowerLady Lorraine

***

"To live a little, you've got to love a whole lot.

Love turns the ordinary into the extraordinary."

Author Unknown, from Life is for Living