I am so behind the times. I just found out that "Mom's" documentary, The Memory Loss Tapes, won an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking. Yeehaw!
Of course, it wasn't Mom's. She was only one of seven people profiled in the documentary. To me though, it will always be "Mom's documentary."
Congratulations HBO, and Shari and Nick!
I've had a vague idea in my head ever since the Cobblestone pattern was published. Use the Cobblestone pattern, but do a different color on the yoke. Cardiganize it, maybe.
This is the fiber for the yoke. I will spin this in long color repeats, but sort of haphazardly. I need some excitement in my life, even if that excitement is just not knowing which color will ply with which color, and what it will look like when knit in the yoke.
The dark blue yarn will be the body and sleeves. Instead of cardiganizing it, it will have a deeply split hem on the sides. I might run out of the dark blue yarn, so I may wind up with a capelet/yoked vest kind of deal. Just winging it for now.
I don't know how I decided on these colors.
It just came to me.
In a waking dream kind of way.
I wasn't sure if I should include this. Then I realized that as her world gets smaller, she is still creating art with what she can reach. She isn't walking much anymore, so I try to have a variety of things she likes on her little tray table in front of her. She chose to carefully arrange them on the table. This piece was disassembled within seconds of taking this photo.
I got a lot of spinning done last weekend. Notice I didn't say plying.
Twelve ounces of llama blend on the bottom, and five ounces of alpaca blend on top.
I have some plying to do.
Thanks to my sister, I was able to spend the weekend doing spinning demonstrations at the annual Threshing Bee my friends put on. I really needed the time off. It was wonderful, but I didn't take a single photo to share. I got a lot of spinning done, and would show you that except it is very dark and rainy here today, so no photos of that either. This will probably go down as my most boring post ever.
Mom is doing ok. She is eating and drinking, and still not in any discernible pain. The hospice nurse is coming this afternoon to discuss what hospice can do for Mom/us. I'm not sure they're really needed yet, but I guess that is what this first meeting is for.
The physical day to day part of this caregiving thing hasn't been a problem for me, it has always been the weight of responsibility that wears me down. That weight is getting even heavier in light of the decisions that will need to be made. It makes me want to run away.
I have never been happier to post another installment in the Art of Alzheimer's series. Words cannot express my joy. Mom got out of bed this morning all by herself for the first time in over a month. She immediately headed to my desk, fooled around with the tape dispenser and the computer mouse, pretended she was going to write on me with a pen, then poked me with it instead, and just generally was her old self again. The other day she got up from the couch unassisted, twice. Yeehaw!
Mom found the perfect spot for her shaky egg.
(The installation was done on the tray, I just moved it to a window for better light. I try to take the photos where I find them, but since this one was contained on the tray, I did move it.)
Debated whether to post this, but I've been open about everything else since I started this blog, so here goes.
Mom's CT scan yesterday revealed a 7cm soft tissue mass surrounding the throat and an enlarged lymph node. Thus the eating issues. Lymphoma is suspected. Fluid and plaqueing in the right lung. Thus the breathing issues. I'll be contacting hospice today to get more information. The good thing is she hasn't shown signs of being in pain (yet), and is still smiling and laughing, although weakened. With help getting up, she is still walking. She seems to have recovered her appetite, and is eating and drinking with obvious enjoyment.
