Every day living ...

It is great having James at home. I think he likes his personal nurse. Admittedly I was a bit worried since health related issues are not really my forte but all has gone quite well. We found very quickly which chairs and which places are best for him and have a pretty good routine now. 

New Year's Day! Our friends Martha and Jerry came over. I had a pizza in the fridge and Martha "insisted" that we had to have black-eyed peas and cornbread for good luck. It's not what either James or I are really used to and it is not part of our tradition. It is a USA thing. I will have lots of good luck in 2024 because I ate a big portion. They were really delicious. Thank you, Martha!

We had a very nice and fun evening but this was the only photo I took.

James unfortunately had been deprived much of the daily Advent calendar puzzle. It had been quite therapeutic for me on some days when I had come late from the hospital. After Christmas and back home James had volunteered to take the puzzle apart and put the pieces for each day back into the right box. 

Since I feel a little homebound and want to be downstairs too in case James needs me, I decided to get my "traveling" sewing machine out. I have things to do for the WE Quilters Group. The January meeting is next week (if we don't get that forecasted snow). 

I called this BOM pattern (Block of the Month) "Happy Flowers".  This is a charity effort of our group. Those who want to make 2 blocks, one for the charity pile and one for the raffle. For each 2 you get a ticket for the raffle. The adventage is that you can try a pattern and see whether you like it enough to make a whole quilt. Chances are that you learn a new technique. This will make a very cute quilt. 

Here are my two blocks.

The weather is like a yoyo. Blue sky and puffy white cloud one day and rain like from buckets the next. If the sun is not out it is very cold. It is winter. Oh well... 

James is very good getting in or out of either of our cars. He had his first check up with his surgeon. They took an expay and showed it to us. The doctor was very happy that there is already new bone growth. 

Lots of hardware. I wonder how checking into our next flights is going to be. 

And then there were excitements I really didn't need. The master bedroom toilet broke. In a moment I had the handle to flash in my hand. I sent the photos as requested to son-in-law Wade who bought the part in his lunch time and put the new handle on, which was very nice. 

But it seemed it was not the only problem. I had seen some water around the toilet base a few days earlier and thought it was something I did. But right after this fix it happened again. I had to do more investigating and when figuring it out we decided that a new whole thing was cheaper in the long run. 

Searching the internet. Higher and elongated! Big question: where is it available the fastest?  I could have picked it up that same evening at 8 pm at a Lowes, cheaper then Home Depot. 

Next day James was sent to a lab for blood samples and the pick-up was within less then half a mile. Good job arranging, Christa!

Our plumber was abailable soon too. There were more hick-ups but I spare you the details. At the end we were happy.

What else is there to report? I am neglecting my garden, but we do enjoy the birds from the breakfast table and from the sunroom. But I had a quick look today. 

The parsley is still growing. 

Daffodils are peaking out of the ground in several places. And hyacinth too.

James is making progress every day. He had Home Care people come several times in the week. Everybody is so caring and we got lots of good advice. The PT Michelle is wonderful and James does his "homework" faithfully.

Yes, we thank the Lord. 

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PS: you know I love comments. If you do, please make sure I know who you are. Thank you, Susan, for your comment on the last blog. I do know several Susans though and it is not clear to me to whom I could respond.