GOOD BOYS!

Today we went to Eugene (3 hours one way) to see a surgeon for Petey's knee. He has a ruptured cruciate in his knee and will have to have surgery in May. He was nervous and shivered the entire visit but he let them examine him without flinching or crying. He was a trooper and they were both such good boys while we had lunch and we also had another appointment in Eugene earlier in the day. These guys were in the car all day long and were so good so Dad stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home and treated them to ice cream. They are 4 years old and have never had ice cream before. They LOVED it! What good boys and what a sweet Daddy to do that for them. Makes me smile :)

HAPPY NEWS THIS WEEK!

We have some really good news to share this week. Brenda Salzano, the founding member of our Etsy Team here in Coos Bay has received great news. She has been asked to write of Timothy Adams of Handmade Spark. This site helps promote all artists that have handmade items. Tim Adams also gives great tips on how to promote your Etsy Shop and how to connect to the Twitter, Facebook and Blogging world to get your name and your product out there.

Brenda Salzano of Salzano's Design and Decor is not only a great jewelry artist and photographer she is one of my dearest friends. She is my support when I am down and is always there when I need a friend to laugh with or cry with or vent to.

Go check out her web site as well as her first article of Handmade Spark.http://handmadespark.com/blog/spring-peeps-decor-easter-shopping-fun/

Congratulations Brenda !

THANK YOU

First of all I want to thank all of you for your kind words and comments about my dear sweet friend Kathleen.
Kathleen did have a Father still living. His wishes are to not have a service or a viewing but to have Kathleen cremated and have her ashes sent home to him.

Our Etsy Team will be having a memorial at our regular coffee shop where we met with Kathleen every Thursday at 11AM. She looked forward to these meetings so much so we thought it appropriate to have it there.
We will share memories, pray and cry and say good bye. We are so blessed to have had her in our lives.

I also want to thank my step Daughter Cathy. She was here to visit from CA when Kathleen passed away. Her visit kept my mind off of the sad days to follow. That and my darling grandson Chase.


Cathy and Chase

Cathy and Dad

Cathy and Me

IN MEMORY OF KATHLEEN BUSH JUNE 27th, 1950 - MARCH 23rd, 2010

Kathleen's family will not be having a service for her. They want having her cremated and her ashes sent to them.

Our Etsy Team will be having a memorial for her on Saturday at Java Jones Coffee shop where we met with Kathleen every week for coffee. She looked forward to those coffee meetings so much and enjoyed hanging out with her friends.

We will say our good byes and share our memories of her, pray and yes, cry together. She will always be with us in memory and our coffee meetings will go on but there will be a big void there and in our hearts forever.

IN MEMORY OF KATHLEEN BUSH MY DEAR FRIEND

This is my friend Kathleen
Click on the image for a closer look

I made this collage today to try to bring some kind of peace to the empty helpless feeling that I had all day. It did bring peace just looking at her kind sweet face and the look of peace in this photo. I have always loved this photo of her.

I did find out today that she does have an Aunt in SF and her Father is there also.
Her Aunt will be here at the end of the week to make the arrangements for her funeral.
It still saddens my heart to think she passed away with no family or friends at her side. I guess I am being selfish but I sure would have loved to tell her good bye.

I LOST A VERY GOOD FRIEND TODAY

Kathleen passed away this morning at 7:30AM. I know that she is with the Lord now and not suffering any longer and I will see her again in the kingdom of heaven but I will sure miss her until then. She was loved by so many. She died alone with no family or friends at her side only because the privacy act prevented the medical professionals from telling us of her condition or even what surgery she had or what caused her death.

I called the ICU this morning and ask if she was still in "serious condition" since they ARE allowed to give out that information and they told me she passed away.

Her closest friend is out of town right now and I am sure she is just heartbroken. I tried to call her but we had a horrible connection. I could tell that she was crying so I am sure that someone contacted her and I feel that she may have been listed as Kathleen's family.

Thank you for all of your prayers.

KATHLEEN, WE WILL MISS YOU MY DEAR SWEET FRIEND. REST IN PEACE

I AM ASKING FOR A PRAYER CHAIN PLEASE

One of my Etsy Team Buddies and dearly loved friend was taken to the hospital in horrible abdominal pain last night. She had emergency surgery at 3AM and we don't know any details because we are not family. All they can tell us is that she is in very serious condition and she is in ICU.

We are pretty certain that she has no family. We have known Kathleen for over three years now and she has never spoken of family. We are her family and I feel that she needs to know we are here and we care and are praying for her. Two of our members have tried to see her today and see how she is doing but they can't tell us anything because "WE ARE NOT FAMILY" I feel that any human that is suffering or sick needs to know that someone is there caring and praying. I hate that she is alone and that we can't let her know we are here. I am going to the ICU tomorrow and I am going to have a serious talk with the nurses. They need to tell her we are just outside the ICU praying and lifting her up to the Lord for healing. If she has no family, WE ARE HER FAMILY...her Etsy Team Buddies who love her and pray she recovers very soon.
Am I wrong?

This is Kathleen, a loving sweet, kind soul.

She is such a caring person and a genuine sweetheart.

She has a wonderful sense of humor and has captured our hearts in so many ways.

I am asking all of my friends to please pray for Kathleen.
Thanks and God Bless you!
Patti, Brenda, Nadine (who took her to the ER last night), Sue, Pamela, Linda, Lynne, Ellen, Janice, Janet

MY BUDDY NADINE

This is me with my friend Nadine Archer Allen. She is one of my Etsy Team Buddies and she makes the cutest handmade cards. These are just a few of many. Check out her Etsy Shop at Nadine and Kathleen (Beautiful Unsual Custom Cards)

THE SKY BEFORE KATRINA STRUCK

I received this stunning email from a friend today and I wanted to share this
These photos are so beautiful yet you wonder how something so beautiful can do such ugly damage to so many people and animals. Amazing !

The Sky Before Katrina Struck...

Whoever took these pictures did an awesome job.
And whoever said Katrina was 'awesome and terrifying' is telling the truth. Wow, take a look at this ....

These pictures were made by a man in Magee, MS where the eye of the storm passed thru- what an experience. Magee is 150 miles North of Waveland, Mississippi where the Hurricane made landfall. The dance with Katrina, part of her beauty as she left destruction on her exit. They are remarkably dramatic...

The following picture was taken from the third story balcony of Saint Stanislaus College located next door to Our Lady of the Gulf church in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi on the morning of August 29th, 2005.
This is believed to be the initial tidal wave from Hurricane Katrina. The tidal wave was approximately 35 to 40 feet high. When it slammed into the beach front communities of Bay Saint Louis and Waveland, Mississippi to completely destroy 99% of every structure along the beach for 9 miles and over a mile inland. The destruction only started there. The flooding that continued inland destroyed the contents of all but 35 homes in these two communities of approximately 14,000 people.

*************************************************************************************

OUR GANG

This picture of our Etsy Team was taken yesterday. O.C.E.A.N. (Oregon Coast Etsy Artist Network).
We have been together now almost three years and we are growing.
From left to right, Kathleen Bush, Greeting Card Artist, Patti Koosed, Collage Artist, Brenda Salzano, jewelry and painting artist and our founder, Nadine Archer Allen our photographer and greeting card artist, Cheryl, our newest member, bottom row is Lynn Helgendalen glass jewelry artist and graphic designer and one of my teachers of Photoshop, Janice Nist and her twin sister Janet Brock, jewelry and embroidery artists and last but not least, Sue Pearson, mosaic artist. I hope

Sadly there are a few members not present for this picture but certainly need to be mentioned. Pamela Boatright, quilt artist, Linda Laverty who makes art out of the beautiful watch bands she creates and Ellen who makes art with her altered sweatshirts.

THERE'S HOPE AFTER ALL

I wanted to share with you that after all the testing and numerous doctors visits my husband finally has a diagnosis for the violent cough he has had for 9 months now.

In the past 9 months he was diagnosed with lymphoma and leukemia. He has had 5 lung xrays, 5 Cat scans, 3 contrast CT's, 6 sputum cultures, 8 blood work ups, has been in the ER, has seen 8 doctors, has had surgery twice to remove lumps to be biopsied for lymphoma from his neck and his right eye, a hernia repair.

Bless his heart, we were on a Merry Go Round of doctors and tests and were getting no where so he took it upon his self to collect all the test results and went to see his oncologist and ask her to refer him to a lung specialist in Eugene for a broncoscopy. He also ask to be referred to an ENT and so yesterday he was put to sleep and they went into his bronchial tubes with a scope and looked around. They also took a culture and we will have the results of that next Monday. The doctor said he has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and chronic bronchitis. He is certain that his sinuses are playing a big part in the reason he keeps getting pneumonia. He will see the ENT on the 30th of this month. I think we are finally getting to the bottom of this long ordeal.
Tonight I took my dogs out for their routine potty before bed and I looked up at the sky. Here in Oregon the skies are crystal clear when it is not raining and the stars are so bright and you can see the big and little dipper clearly. As I looked up into the sky I was a falling star. It was falling across the sky and it fell for along time. Then another star fell in the opposite direction. It was as if God was waving at me. I had such a feeling of peace come over me.
All of this and some other personal problems in my family have been so heavy on my heart but my faith in the Lord has carried me through and I think that all of this will end soon.

God is with us always, all we have to do is reach out and he is there! Amazing!!

JUDY,JUDY,JUDY

Well my hair finally grew out enough to get another hair cut! I am so happy that horrible hair cut is gone!

Since I have lived here in Coos Bay I have had several people see me on the streets, in the doctors office, in a restaurant or where ever and they say "Hi Judy, how are you?" This has been going on for four years so the last person that thought I was Judy was our waitress at the place we have breakfast every Sunday. She had called me Judy a couple of times and I would say "I am not Judy". So a couple of weeks ago I ask her who Judy was and she told me that she was a hair dresser here in town. I ask where she was and the waitress gave me her address.

After four years of being mistaken for Judy I decided to go meet her. I did and she was amused at my story. We laughed about it and she said "well but I don't have a dimple" and I said " and "I don't have blue eyes".

I made an appointment with her for a hair cut and told her of the horrible way the last cut turned out. Uneven after two tries to fix it and that she did NOT cut it the way I wanted it resulting in a cut that was way shorter than I have had it for years!

Today Judy cut my hair and I am a happy camper again. She cut it exactly the way I wanted. She used too much product on my hair but what the heck, that washes out! It was a great appointment and after we had someone take our picture together (since everyone thinks we look so much alike)


Here we are. Do you think we look that much alike?

THOMAS JEFFERSON'S COOK BOOK

My dear husband loves to read and it seems like every week we get a new book in the mail. He also likes to surprise me every now and then with things he thinks are unique. Today I picked up a package at the post office and thinking it was yet another book for him I brought it home and he opened and said "I think you are going to like this". It was a cook book of reciepes collected by Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson's little granddaughter, Virginia Randolph carefully copied the reciepes he brought back from France, as well as his favorites from Monticello and the White House..

The result was Jefferson's personal one of a kind cook book. It was handed down for generations from mother to daughter as a priceless possesssion. In the late 1930's, Fanny M. Burke great-great granddauther of Jefferson presented the book to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation shortly before her death.

Mrs Burke joined with the Foundation in giving noted historian, Marie Kimball permission to prepare it for publication. Mrs. Kimball fully adapted Thomas Jefferson's Cook Book to practical, modern use. All recipes were proportioned to our current practice of a formula for serving six people. Each recipe was tested. It is not only correct, but it tastes great!

The book was published in 1938. It has now of course, long been out of print until this historic 2004 limited edition reprint.

This book has recipes for Ice Cream, Blanc Mange, Wine Jelly, Macarons, Meringues, Noodels a la Macaroni, Brandied Peaches and much more.

From his recipes used in Paris, Monticello and the White House are complete treatises on many delicious soups both French and American. You will absolutley love Jefferson's personal comments about his soup recipes.

Jefferson's coverage of meats and fowl is quite extensive as is his treatment of scads of delicious vegetable recipes.

Better yet, his list of desserts and creams will make you hungry when you really aren't!

Since this book and the recipes have a copyright I cannot post any of them on my blog but they are simply wonderful.

I did however scan this coupon for you to take if you want to order one. I am excited to have this book and even though I am not a "cook" I am going to try some of the recipes. I am also excited to give it as a gift to a couple of people that I know will just love it. My nieces Mandy and Cassidy who are wonderful cooks and my granddaughter Melissa who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu 2 years ago.

Have fun and share with us what recipes you try from this book!!

HAPPY SATURDAY EVERYONE!

I was experiment with Brushes in Photoshop today and made this collage. Created entirely with Brushes!
Amazing! I am still having too much fun!

THE WINNER IS

I only had two people leave comments on a name for this collage. Mica of Garboodles Soup suggested Innocent Wonderment and THE POETIC ARTIST- Katelen suggested GentleTouch. I put your names in a cup and drew out GENTLE TOUCH. Katelen, you are the winner!

Thanks Mica and Katelen for helping me chose a name.

SOME DAYS I JUST WANT TO RUN AWAY

Some days I feel as if I am spinning my wheels and getting no where.
These endless doctors appointments and tests to find out what is wrong with Alan other than his lymphoma and leukemia are getting to him and being his wife I get the brunt of it. I try so hard to be understanding of his situation and the frustration he is feeling but I am feeling it too. Who does he take it out on? ME!

For over a year now he has had a cough, first it was violent and productive and he has seen doctor after doctor and has had Xray after Xray and sputum culture after sputum culture and has been on different antibiotics 30 days at a time three times now.

His first doctor completely misdiagnosed his lymphoma and leukemia and put him on an inhaler that caused a scary side effect that landed him in the ER. We immediately got rid of that quack. The new doctor did an Xray that showed pneumonia so he was treated for that and 2 months later the cough came back so the next Xray showed a bacterial infection in the lung so he was treated for that and 2 weeks later the cough was back.

Finally his oncologist this week told us that he does have yet another strain of staph infection in his lungs and she has put him on a strong antibiotic for 7 days and if this doesn't work she said he may have to have an antibiotic through an IV. She has scheduled him to see an ENT thinking it may have something to do with his sinuses. I am going to come unglued if all of this is due to a sinus infection!

The insurance companies have paid for thousands of dollars in Cat Scans and MRI's and Xrays and cultures and doctors visits when it could have been caught right away if he would have had a doctor that was on top of things. The recent Xray and sputum culture shows a staph infection in his lung. What is causing all of this. The clincher is that the oncologist said she saw a spot on his lung that was a concern to her but she THOUGHT it was not active. What!!? So what it is this spot? Come on! How does she know it is not active and what the heck is it?

I could go on and on but it won't do any good. I guess I just need to vent.

I am losing my faith in all doctors. I know there are some wonderful caring doctors out there but they are not here in Coos Bay!

So I am feeling sorry for myself today and I want to run away.

Hugs wanted....thanks for listening