Unhappiness at Chez Crazy

Sometimes I wish I had a different life. One where I could catch a bit of a break. For at Chez Crazy, just when things seem to calm down, life smacks you around.

Case in point.

Larry, who oh so recently badly dislocated his left knee, has now rolled his right foot and broken a bone in it. To be precise, he fractured the 5th metatarsal, which is the outside long bone on his foot, the weight-bearing bone. His bad knee buckled when his right foot was on uneven paving, and his heard an audible snap when his foot rolled. and now it's in a cast. For weeks.

So - he's hardly able to get around, even with crutches. And our house is multi-story, with his bedroom in the basement. Larry's having a terrible time just getting up off the couch (I have to help him), so Thursday night I insisted that he move to our guest bedroom upstairs. It's across the hall from the bathroom, the bed is high and easier to get out of, and he can sit with his foot propped up in my office and watch TV or play on his laptop. I left him yesterday morning well supplied with food and drinks, so he was be ok.

But when I got home, he was STILL in the damn bed, wallowing in his misery, playing with his computer. He'd only gotten up to use the bathroom across the hall. And now he's talking about dropping out of his paramedic training. For the second time.

Son, that ain't happening.

Argh.

A bit of venting - DH has been virtually no help during any of this. He does not handle medical issues or stress well. It's all on me.

And now my mother is yelling at me to take better care of myself. That's nice, Mom - no time!

In other news, I am tatting. (To keep sane.) This is for a neighbor and church friend whose husband died. It's my favorite Mary Konior cross, in Lizbeth of course.

Mom's cat, Honey

I had a nice time last weekend in Charleston. I stayed with my sister and helped with the college graduation prep for my niece. (She liked the bracelet!) Mom brought her kitty and we all helped with a big party my sister had for the graduates.

The view at the back of my sister's home on James Island

The weather was splendid. My niece graduated with many honors and awards. She is going to do Teach For America someplace in the Mississippi Delta region, teaching high school English. You go, girl!

At home, the tiny turtle is thriving, eating lots of meal worms, snails, carrots, and green things.So cute!

Now I have to get a crow bar and roust Larry out of the bed. Pray for me.

 

Time at Mepkin Abbey

While I visited Charleston, my entire family went to Mepkin Abbey. Mepkin is about an hour outside of Charleston, in Mock's Corner, SC (and yes, I've spelled that correctly).

Mepkin is on the site of an old plantation. The property was donated by Clare Boothe Luce to the Trappist monks, and the order was established here.

My father often took retreats here. He loved the peace he found there, and he was close friends with the late Abbott, Fr. Frances. Frances died a year before Daddy, his life cut short by a virulent leukemia. Before Daddy died, he said he wanted some of his ashes to be put by Frances.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to plant Daddy at the Abbey this trip. The monk's cemetery is private, and while we were allowed to go into it and saw Fr. Frances' grave, we were escorted by another monk who didn't know about our intent. So we'll come back another time, when we've been able to talk to the Abbott and make good arrangements.

The property is truly gorgeous.  There are gardens and sculptures everywhere. And it borders the Cooper river, which flows into the Charleston harbor. Walking through the gardens is a blissful experience, even on a hot day.  And it was hot!

We walked through the gardens in the summer heat. There are many lovely natives plants and flowers here. This is a hydrangea. One of the things the monks do is cultivate native plants.

The sculptures are lovely. Many blend in with their surroundings.

Some are more modern. This is a wonderful creche made of metal. The baby in the manger has a round golden saw blade for a crown. The monastery has a large collection of creches.

This is a wooden sculpture of the Holy Family, carved on site from this huge log.

As I mentioned, the property was donated by Clare Boothe Luce. The Luce family is buried at this location. You can see their cemetery just past the big live oak.

There were lovely views of the Cooper river in parts of the gardens.

A restful Madonna and child sculpture. It was very peaceful here.

If you're ever on the coast in the South and you see the live oaks with the Spanish moss on them, admire the moss from afar. The moss is loaded with nasty itchy bugs. Look, don't touch.

One of my nieces with her mother, my sister.

My family really enjoyed this visit to Mepkin, and I'm certain we'll be back.

When Moe and I returned from our journey to Charleston, you'd think Vader would be there to great us. You would be wrong. He was lolling around, pretending he didn't care. Of course, he jumped on me in the middle of that night and woke me up, purring loudly.

Visit to the Charleston Museum

While I was in Charleston visiting family recently, Moe and I went to the Charleston Museum to see the Threads of War exhibit. Here's a bit of what I saw in the exhibit and in the museum as a whole.

Bodice and skirt from Threads of War

First of all, the Threads of War was a fairly small exhibit, limited in scope. I was hoping to see lace making or evidence of homemade lace, but saw none. It was mostly clothing items and other large textiles from that era, including coverlets and flags.

But those were very good, and the real deal. Here are some children's garments, with a bit of a slave shirt in the background.

Some Confederate uniforms and flags. The fact that these are in this good shape is pretty phenomenal.

More, including a quilt and nightgown.

Another uniform and a child's bodice. That may be a flag from a Texan unit.

Here are some small items from the exhibit. Can you imagine putting a child in those blue shoes these days?

And some infant items. including a quilted bib. No tatting. I looked.

This is the only sewing/handwork related item in the exhibit. Sigh. I'm sure people tatted. But I love the shoe-shaped pin cushion.

Outside the exhibit, there were other items. including this terrific Victorian doll house.

And some miscellaneous ancient items. Love the Egyptian cat.

There was an exhibit on the lower floor with a lot of small items, including this chatelaine set.

And hair jewelry. Moe was totally grossed out by this. I'm fascinated, but it's not something I would want to touch, much less wear.

The other interesting part of the museum was a large permanent exhibit related to the history of Charleston. Lotsa pictures, furniture, plantation and Civil war items. I'll just give you a few items.

Have you ever seen them talk about pottery by Dave the Slave on the Antiques Road Show? There were 6 or 8 large pots by Dave here.  As a potter, I'm impressed. The form is lovely.

And some small cool face jugs. (I also have a collection of face jugs.) I love these!

I found a great little housewife. Look, knitting supplies! And a thread winder!

And finally, finally, deep into the exhibit, I found a grouping with sewing and handwork.

With a gorgeous sewing chest....

And OMG! Actual tatting! And 3 tatting shuttles! Plus crochet hooks and other goodies. It's not a good example of tatting - it look modern and kinda bad - but it is tatting. Success!

And for the Palmetto Tatters, I show you some cool palmettos, made as Confederate patriotic items.

There was more - Moe found a big exhibit of guns that he was delighted with, plus a mock-up of the Hunley - but I'll spare you the moth-eaten polar bear and all the weird animal skeletons. They were too strange.

Next time - Mepkin Abbey.

Coming up for air

Thanks for everyone who gave me encouragement and support after Tuesday's post.  Having a child with major issues is no piece of cake.  And sometimes I have trouble keeping my head above water. I've been eating too much lately, a sure sign of stress.  But it really does help to know that others really care.  Thank you.

Here's what I'm tatting - my favorite, Mary Konior's Large Cross from Tatting with Visual Patterns, in Lizbeth Grape Pizzaz size 20.  Cisco has been helping me with this.  He's not a good tatter - no thumbs.  But his good looks and charm make up for everything.

Sylvia is still missing and assumed to be gone forever.  She was bad, but sweet in her own way.  And so beautiful.

 

I'm taking Curly to see his psychiatrist tomorrow.  This was a scheduled appointment, set prior to his most recent outburst.  Hopefully we can make some changes in his medicines that will help him.  And me.  Maybe I can get some valium.

Here's a couple of things from the Charleston visit - a view from my sister's house on James Island.  This is her back yard.  I wish I saw this every day.

Maybe if I lived with this view, Curly's issues wouldn't bother me so much.

Sometimes I want to be like Sophie.  Her needs are simple.

Sophie likes a box.  A lot.  She looks warm and cozy, doesn't she?  She's sweet and cuddly.

Too bad she's dumb as toast. Also, she's a terrible tatter.  Can't get the flip.

But I wish I could have her at work.  She would be a comfort.  My office move is still in process;  I'm in limbo.  My computer is one building, my phone and all the rest of my stuff are in another. 

I hope all will be better by Monday.  Because Monday Is Another Day.  And by then, I may have Valium.

I'm a winner!!!!

I never win anything.  I've bought lotto tickets galore - I never even win a free ticket.


But not today.  Today I'm a winner!


Here's what I won

Yup, I'm this week's winner of LadyShuttleMaker's Mondo Monday Giveaway.  How great is that?  I've positively drooled over her shuttles.  And now this pretty one will be mine.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Miss LadyShuttleMaker.  You made my day.  You are so very generous with your talents.

And Internets, YOU can be a winner too.  Just hop on over to LadyShuttleMaker's place and enter.  It's easy as pie!  And who knows? Maybe you'll win this Monday's prize!

I kinda needed a pick-me-up.  DH is out of town all week, so I'm manning the fort against the heathens.  After I drove home from Charleston on Sunday with grumpy Curly in the car ("Don't TOUCH me!" "Don't TALK to me!" "Why won't you let me DRIVE?!"), I came home to find two disasters.  One was immediately apparent - none of the cats were in the house.  Cisco and Sophie were quickly located, but Larry's cat, Sylvia, has not been seen.  We found some of her under-fur in the front yard and we have coyotes here, so I fear the worst.  Larry didn't go with us - he had to work, but otherwise was home, so he should have paid attention.  And she's his cat.  I can't think about it, though.

The other disaster only became apparent after I went grocery shopping and we went to put groceries in the large chest freezer.  That's when we found it was completely defrosted.  It was plugged into a special power strip and the strip had gotten tripped, probably on Thursday or Friday.  I was able to rescue a ham and about $20 worth of meats and vegies, but that's it.  After I finished pitching stuff, there was a soup of melted ice, popsicles, and ice cream in the bottom that had to be cleaned out right then.  Ugh.  What a mess.  The freezer had been mostly full, and I'll bet I lost $400 worth of food.  After that, watching Mad Men wasn't much solace.  Monday I got to work and was told I have to move my personal office to a cube in another building on Thursday - get your own boxes to pack your stuff.  It's great working for a semi-governmental agency.

*Sigh*

Last night Curly threw another one of his fits and sorta lost his little mind.  He smashed his acoustic guitar on the sidewalk and talked about suicide.  The triggers were A) not getting a solo in chorus and B) me turning off his cell phone when he flat out refused to do his chores. I finally got him calmed down and into bed, but I thought for a while I might be spending another night doing intake at a local adolescent psychatric institute, something I've had to do before.  The suicide talk I take seriously, but he assured me that his thoughts on this were not current, he was talking of old thoughts.  I checked to make sure he was asleep before I could go to bed.

Being Curly's mom is hard. 

DH isn't very helpful with when Curly gets like this, he mostly yells.  As parents, we all do what we know, and DH had some pretty bad parenting examples.  His stepfather didn't have clue how to deal with teens. He just screamed at them. DH means well, he's just clueless.  So it's up to me.

Curly's a bit better today.  He taped his guitar back together and is now composing a new song. (He's very creative and really writes terrific lyrics - and I've told him so.)  And he has an appointment with his psychiatrist Saturday.  We will be making some medication changes.

I'm fairly stressed, but will be ok.  It's nothing I haven't dealt with before.  And this is one reason I can't tat (or do some other things) as often as I'd like.

Tomorrow - packing my office.  And as Scarlet O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day."

Anyhow, thanks, LadyShuttleMaker, for making my day BETTER!

The Wedding!

Whew!  It's over, and it was great!  I'm glad to be back.  Most of my family and I were in Charleston, SC all weekend.

We stayed off the peninsula, near the base of this modern bridge. It's very long, over 3 miles.  Curly enjoyed running on it.

It's very impressive when you drive on it too.  Very very tall.

The bride loved her tatted handkerchief, and thanked me several times for it.

The rehearsal dinner was terrific.  It was held at one of the oldest buildings in Charleston. The Stooges (Larry didn't come - had to work) got a tour of the old Provost Dungeon in the bottom.  Too cool. The food was very old south - fried chicken, squash cassarole, green beans, red rice, and lemon chess pie.  Mmm.  Lots of my brother's friends (and me) got up to toast them.  It was great fun.

The day of the wedding was so pretty.  But damn, it was HOT!  It was a very humid 90 degrees, really warm, even for Charleston in October. 

The wedding was held at the church that was my dad's last as full time pastor.  (He died in 2007.)  Daddy would have been delighted about all of this.  Isn't the church pretty?

I read the scripture (I Corinthians 13) and my sister sang a gorgeous piece in German by G F Handel. My sister has a lovely clear soprano.

The Stooges, DH, and I cleaned up pretty well for the wedding. Moe's jacket and tie were from the same thrift store where Curly's suit was found.

I surreptitiously took some pictures during the ceremony.  I had to sit over to the side, since I needed easy access to the pulpit.  I took this one with my cell phone looking over my program while we sang a hymn.

The bride looked radiant, and the groom handsome.  The groom is my only brother.  The colors his bride choose were melon - honeydew and cantelope.  The flowers were lovely.  Isn't her dress pretty?

The reception was at this elegant hall, on the second floor.  Another very old building.  Charleston is really quite spectacular.

The food was great.  These are a few of the hors d'oeurvres.  Many more were passed.

The cake was beautiful; the decorations matched the invitations exactly.  If you look, you'll see that it's not fondant frosting - it's butter cream.  That takes some real talent to do.  And it was delicious - the frosting was orange flavored, with key lime pie cake. Mmmmm

There were lots of good eats, including shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, gazpacho, sweet potato biscuits with ham, delicious beef tenderloin, scallops with proscuitto, and shrimp salad sandwiches. Lots to drink too.

And there were many guests.  Friends of the happy couple came from Japan, Norway, Germany (the bride is German, though now a US citizen), the US West Coast, and Boston.  Our family came from South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia.  I love seeing all my extended family.  I really and truly am crazy about all of them.

                         

One things my family is known for  - we know how to throw a good party!  We do it up right.  (Curly said he felt wealthy in his suit with the elegant surroundings.)  And a good and happy time was had by all!