2ND BLOGGING BIRTHDAY!!!

 

So, there I was last night, cruising around my blogger dashboard checking all the stats (not something I do very often but I couldn't sleep and was bored) and I come across my first blog post!

 

15th May 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

2 years coming up. Sooooooo I am thinking this is something to celebrate with all of my loyal followers. Sooooooo I have decided, after all of that thinking ................ that I am going to have a

 

 

Now on the 1st of May, I will put up a Birthday Giveaway Celebration Post with all of the details of my Giveaway Gifts (and there will be a few!!) and what you need to do to be in the draw to win one of those prizes!! There will be handmade items, some habby items and some gardening items.

And you can enter from anywhere in the world!!

So remember to pop in on MAY 1ST 2014 to read all about it and enter!!!!!

 

I will be busy for the next 2 days getting very organised here so I am ready to fly to Lismore on Monday. At this stage I will be up there for one week which may extend to 2 weeks depending on what is happening with my sweet baby girl - she has been very down the last couple of days and it is so damned hard trying to get all the information re her treatment etc from so far away. Plus her sweet baby girl (my grand daughter) is in need of some routine and stability so I will be staying with her at home. Wednesday just cannot come quick enough for us all - the liver team at Brisbane hospital are reviewing her case on Tuesday - I might be being a bit hopeful to have their replies by Wednesday but I can hope - reality says Thursday / Friday.

 

I will be packing, tidying up (I hate coming home to untidy after being away) and selecting (and photographing) the giveaway gifts. What do you have planned for this weekend - some crafting, sewing or gardening - whatever it is take care and

 

 

 

 



'LEST WE FORGET'

 

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn;

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them

 

LEST WE FORGET

 



Update and a Question

Just a quick update on Naomi - her biopsy test results are back and they are clear. She is back in hospital with haematoma  that has developed around the drain site. She will be there for a couple of weeks until that has dissolved. Her medical team are looking into transferring her to Brisbane or Sydney for the removal of the mass within the liver - because of the state of her liver it is a touchy operation and if they damage any of the good [part of the liver it could result in her going on the liver transplant list. Other than that she is in good hands being monitored in hospital and getting plenty of bed rest, and quite content to stay there until further decisions about her surgery are made.
We have lots of phone calls with her each day (thank goodness for mobiles) and I am planning to go back up next week.
And I would like to say thank you to everyone who has commented with wonderful messages of support for Naomi and our family - it is truly appreciated by us all - and I do believe all of the prayers have helped her so far. Also thank you to all of you who have emailed me with messages of support and enquiring after how she is going - all of my followers are such wonderful, caring and amazing people it really is one of life's pleasures to call you all 'my bloggy friends'!!!
Now for the question: FOLLOW button??? Can anyone tell me how to get it onto a blog. I helped a friend set up a blog today and went to layout and gadgets, but couldn't find it. There is a google+ follow button but not the simple Follow button that most of us have!!

To finish off I am sharing a very special photo. My youngest grandson, Oliver who is 7.5 months old meeting his oldest great, great Auntie Heather who is 90 (my mother's sister).

There probably aren't too many of my generation who would have a photo with our great great aunts!!!
 



THIS

 

This beautiful Sewing All was waiting in our mail box for me (no one else - just for me) when I collected the mail on Wednesday. I received this from the Lovely Lynda in a swap run by the Marvellous Maree in the Let's Stitch Together on line group.

We had to make a Sewing All and this is what Lynda made for me - I just love it.

 

 

The beautiful satin stitch in the embroidery has turned me green with envy (my satin stitch has a long way to go to be able to use it in something I am giving away!!)

 

Lots and lots of different sized pockets and a lovely big pincushion!

 

And all of these wonderful little extras!!! There was a packet of M&M's also but I really needed to have something chocolate today so alas no photo of them!!

Thank you so much Lynda - it is just the perfect size for me and I have been busy showing it off to everyone I meet up with!!!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone for your best wishes, prayers and thoughts for Naomi - she was discharged on Friday to be at home over Easter. When the results from all of the test come back she will be admitted again. She has had a few weepy moments but on the whole is coping. The waiting is the hardest  at least when the results are back we will KNOW what is ahead and have a plan of action. Greg and I are staying at home until the results are back and will then go up and be with her throughout the surgery and follow up treatment. Meanwhile we have several phone calls a day and she has lots of text messages from her brothers (she can't talk about it with them and they can't talk about it with her - my babies are all big softies!!)

When we went up to Lismore we took my mum with us. Whilst there we went for a couple of drives - on to Ballina and Byron Bay. At Byron bay we went up to the Lighthouse - very interesting and magnificent views - that is until I looked over the safety fence and saw this.....

 

 

In it's own way a spectacular view but for a person who has fear of heights (that would be scaredy cat me!!!lol) it wasn't the best thing to do - still I forced myself to stay there long enough to take the picture - even looking at the picture makes me dizzy!!lol

Mum was unable to walk up to the lighthouse but she was happy to make do with sitting at the cafe with this.....

 

 

I think she enjoyed that more than she would have looking at the lighthouse!!

On the trip back we took mum to Gulargambone - she nursed there in 1952 when she was 20yrs old. Over the last few years she has often said she would like to go back and have a look at the town and where the hospital was that she worked in.

 

These silly creatures were all through the town - the Galahs of Gular!!!! They were fantastic and such a great idea and theme for the town!!!! On the roads leading in the galahs were in flight. I just loved them! The old hospital site had a new building on it which is now a medical centre and aged care building. Mum was really pleased to go back. I was pleased to be able to take her back as time goes by so quickly and at her age the 'one day' can quite easily never come!!

 

It doesn't matter where we go we can always suss out a sewing shop!!!lol. Unfortunately there is nothing open in Gulargambone on Tuesdays!!!

 

 

It was a lovely side trip to a beautiful little town situated in wonderful countryside!!

Tomorrow I will be busy with the CWA Market and then finally I can relax and veg out here at home for a couple of days - at least until Naomi's results come in and then we ill be on the move again I suspect! In the meantime we will be mowing lawns that have grown to 2 foot high whilst we were away (some lovely rain in  that time and the lawn just bolted upwards to the sky) and making sure feeders for all the animals are all set up and everything else around the farm is organised so it is easier for Isaac to manage (along with his full time job) whilst we are away.

two more sleeps until the Easter Bunny comes (oh dear me - more chocolate) - I do hope you all have a safe, happy and very healthy Easter - and I am going to have some sewing time for myself also!!

 

 

 



Finally... I Know Who My Hero (Heroine) in This Life Is!!!!!

 

My absence from my blog has been spent concentrating 100% on my Hero (Heroine) - whom I have just realised is worthy of that honour!!

 

 

My baby girl, my only daughter - Naomi. Born in 1983 we were told she only had a 20% survival rate. She proved that wrong. Born with a Congenital Heart Deformity she had a shunt inserted at 2 days old. She was certainly a beautiful bonnie baby at 9lb 50z in amongst the other NICU babies who were all under 3lb!!! Again at 12 months old she had another shunt inserted. At 6 years of age we were told she wouldn't survive another 6 months - we could take her home and enjoy what time was remaining with her - or we could let her surgeon take her into theatre to see if he could do anything at all that might help her - she again defied death and her medical team gave us back a beautifully pink little girl (who had been so cyanose her feet, fingers and lips were blue black in colour). The fact that she adored her surgeon and her cardio specialist and believed they were going to fix her up to be like her brothers also played a big part in her surviving).

Again when she was 10 years old she defied certain death when her medical team at RMCH operated against all odds and presented us with a pink little girl - although she had complications following this surgery she fought and defied everyone and everything to come home with us. her specialist told us that in the following 6 months they saved the lives of 7 other CHD children with what they had learnt from their surgery with Naomi!!

Having a baby was something she was supposed not to do (medically that is). But she fell pregnant and in 2004 our beautiful little image of her mother Karah was born at 1250gms - she has just flown threw life with no problems what so ever - Naomi on the other hand had been airlifted to Sydney, had an emergency c section because her lungs and kidneys were shutting down and was a problem for the next 3 weeks. once again she rallied and came home with her little girl.

She now had a life plan - she was going to live to the age of 45 because then Karah would be 25 and they would have had made lots of memories and Karah was old enough and strong enough to continue on without her mum. Whatever hospital Naomi ends up in she is an immediate attraction for all medical students and interns and registrars as her surgery is very uncommon and she has had a baby!!!

Monday last week Naomi was hospitalised in Lismore (13hours away mind you) with severe bloating in the abdomen. 3 CT scans revealed a blockage in her liver (tumour) and 3 shadows on the outside of her liver. Her INR (warfarin) was 7.8 instead of the 1.4 it should be. She had approximately 10 litres of fluid in her abdomen (she looked as if she was 7 months pregnant).

So in the car we got and drove to Brisbane. It has been through this last week that we have seen how high her pain threshold is (we would be screaming messes if we had to cope with the pain she has been coping with); she has not been able to keep any food down and has lost a lot of body weight. The sample that was taken of the fluid came back clear contradicting what the CT results said.  Because her INR is not low enough they cannot do a biopsy for fear of haemorrhaging. Yesterday they did an MRI and today they started draining the fluid (7 litres so far). They are hoping the INR is lower tomorrow so they can do the biopsy.

Through all of this she has tried to eat, go without pain relief because that makes her vomit, and is generally easy to make smile and laugh!! We had to return home today and she is constantly on my mind - phone calls are good but not the same as being there with her. She is my hero because she keeps fighting against all odds (and she knows they are stacked against her survival again this time). What lays ahead for her we don't know but we do know she will fight tooth and nail and with every ounce of energy she has - she has 15 years of her life plan left to live!!!

So we are home to get commitments out of the way, to get things here on the farm sorted and then we will be back to Lismore to get this girl on the road to recovery!!! I read everyone's posts each day (I need to do that) but I really don't have the time to comment. I will post to my blog when I get a chance but that may not be very often over the next few weeks.

Happy Easter To each And Everyone Of My Followers - may you all enjoy wonderful family time over the Easter weekend!!!!



Planting Day

 

After 120 points on Friday I couldn't' get out into the garden until Sunday - just too muddy (who would have thought after the dry, dry summer) - but by Sunday it was perfect underfoot and easy digging also! So off i went on a shovel hunt - 9 shovels here and I couldn't find one, not even the one I had planted so no one else could get it!! Off to the sheds to see what I could find and reclaim. I need to check out 3 utes and several paddock corners - my shovels are somewhere!!!!

 

 

First up I tried to burn a pile of weeds and rubbish - too damp - along came the MOTH with some diesel - that didn't have much of an effect either! So it smoldered away all day!! Thursday I will give it another go.

 

Up I climbed into the raised beds ( about 24" up) and dug them over (they had been mulched with rice straw and composted cow manure a couple of months ago - soooo easy to dig!!! Then planted chard (for chooks and pigs)in one; and celery & leeks (for us 2 legged animals) in the other. These photos were taken before I mulched them with chaff that a customer didn't want!!

 

These spring onions are the leftovers from last year that have reshot and are growing well - BONUS!! - so they were mulched also - will get some more seedlings and fill this raised bed. Then I dug over another ground bed next to the plantings I did last week. Those green spots amongst the mulch are spinach, silver beet, and Asian greens.

 

 

from vegies I moved on to planting herbs. Sage, Oregano, Parsley, Mint and Tarragon. Hopefully this coming weekend I will get some carrots, peas, broad beans, broccoli and parsnips planted and maybe some more herbs. I probably should be doing that on Wednesday and Thursday as we have more rain predicted on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - unfortunately I am going to Wagga with the MOTH tomorrow - he has a specialist appointment for his hip - no shopping though, just straight over and straight back. He is panicking because he hasn't sown his oats (just oats not wild oats!!lol) and there is rain coming!!

I have been sewing but it is a secret until my swap partner receives it and then I can show you!! So it is off to bed for (at this ridiculous hour of the morning - 1:15am) - if I am really on the ball in the morning I might just pick up some seedlings when I go to town and get them planted before we go to Wagga!!!