And I haven't even looked at blogs for nearly that long, as well! About two weeks ago, I started checking out Mary Elizabeth Kinch's blog, because every year she posts a 12 days of Christmas antique quilt show! It's always spectacular, and I truly look forward to it each and every year! I think this is her 6th year! And this year's selections are all from Canada! What a treat and delight it is to view these wonderful antique quilts, some from museums, and some from private collections.
I've popped into several other blogs, as well.....and I have found I've really missed all of this! So I hope to get back into blogging this coming year!
All I can say is that there has been a lot of stuff going on this past year.....especially these last few months!
We spent last winter in Florida, arriving back in Maine in May. Spent the next two months attending a few kite festivals, playing a little golf, and visiting with family. In July, my husband John had cataract surgery that was perfect in every way! His right eye went from 20/400 to 20/20....amazing! He spent about 2 weeks recuperating from the surgery, and just about the minute he was feeling great, and life was getting back to normal.....he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer!
He spent 6 weeks in daily radiation treatments, and once a week chemotherapy. Here's a pic of John in chemo treatment.....he looks good, huh?
And what's truly amazing is that during his entire treatment, he never felt any effects from it! It's a cumulative process, so he did feel some effects when it was all done, and for about 10 days after. It was just really hard to swallow much of anything.....so we lived on oatmeal, soup, and scrambled eggs! Also amazing is that his blood work numbers (white cells, etc) were all still in the range of a normal person not going through chemo! The whole time! It was remarkable!
And the great news is that after the treatments, the 2 effected lymph nodes have all but disappeared, and the tumor has shrunk and is dead! So, he will have surgery in January to remove his esophagus, from the top of the stomach to about the collar bone area.....and then his stomach will be stretched up to meet at the top, and will in essence become his esophagus. It's a crazy weird surgery, but they are doing it all the time, with wonderful results! And because John is in really good shape (he's a runner!), the surgeon is very excited to do the surgery.....he says he never gets patients in such good condition! And in taking out the whole esophagus, he's confident they will catch all the cancer cells and be able to remove them.....with an end result of CURE! Woohoo!
We feel so blessed!
So, we are wintering in Maine this year.....and we have a beautiful blanket of snow right now for Christmas....with about 10 more inches expected tomorrow evening! We're loving it! And a real Christmas tree this year, too.....woohoo!
We were able to take a drive down to Georgia to visit our granddaughter, Maddie at Thanksgiving! It worked out perfectly, as John was just able to eat 'normal' food again about 2 days before turkey day! Whew! He was worried we were going to puree his turkey!
Maddie turned 2 in October....and she is such a sweet little delight! Here we are rolling out the gingerbread men at Thanksgiving! Sweet!
I don't have anything quilty to show, as I have only just begun to get back into it! During John's treatments, I figured I would be sitting for hours and hours.....which was true......so I took up knitting! I hadn't knit in about 35 years (disastrous results back then), but my friend Mary set me on the straight path to success...and I managed to knit a little dress for Maddie, two scarves for my son and his partner, a hat and scarf set for my father, and a hat for my brother! No pictures of any of it.....I only seem to take pictures of quilts! Go figure! But I'm hoping to get some more knitting done while John is in the hospital (about 10-14 days).....and I'll be sure to take pics then!
I'm working on the quilt that I started a couple years ago in Florida.....and it's nearly a completed top. Will post a pic when it's all one piece! Nearly there.....yay!
Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful, peaceful and joyous Christmas!
Give all the love you can to everyone in your life!
regan
