A CRAZY QUILT CHRISTMAS COTTAGE - ALMOST A HORROR SHOW...

 

When I came up with this year's Christmas theme, 

I didn't really know how fitting it would be.

  This year the holidays have been just plain crazy! 

 I warmly thank all of you 

who left comments on my last post,

 and apologize

 for not getting back to you before now.  

I had intended to give you more of an explanation

 as to why it had been so crazy 

but my stamina just wasn't up to it

 so as I show you the extent of this 

Crazy Quilt Christmas at the Cottage,

 I will elaborate a little more

 about some of what went on. 

Our family had planned on our early Thanksgiving, 

and we were preparing each day to get ready.  

 On the last day before the celebration, 

I was performing the last chore of vacuuming. 

 I had almost finished when I tripped over the hose and landed on my head on the hard floor.

 I think I passed out for a while

 as I don't remember The Captain picking me up 

or the dogs extreme dismay which he told me about

 as he was cleaning up the blood! 

 He felt I should go to emergency to get stitches.  

Of course, I didn't think that was necessary

 but went along with it all.  

In fact, I did need four stitches,

 and they suggested I get a brain scan

 as I was on blood thinners.  

The scan showed that I did have a brain bleed

 and needed to be taken 

by ambulance down to the big hospital in Sacramento.  

This was all found out at around 3:00 in the afternoon

 and I finally checked into the hospital at

 4:30 in the morning.

 They had also given me Vitamin K

 to offset the blood thinners 

and I had an allergic reaction to that.  

This day just kept getting better and better!  

 Or should I say crazier and crazier!

And, while not a creature was stirring around here...

the poor kids had just finished cooking 

our complete Thanksgiving dinner 

and were getting ready to leave early

 the next morning to come up here.

  When the Captain called them,

 they gave the food to their neighbor 

and quickly jumped into the car to come up. 

 Another brain scan was taken at the hospital 

and showed no change from the first one. 

 It was a very slight bleed 

and had already sealed itself off.  

The emergency doc had said

 the bleed was a huge one 

and that I could die from it. 

 See what I mean about the day getting better crazier!

What it mostly all boiled down to is the blood thinners. 

 Why was I on them for so long 

and, especially, why warfarin?  

I had a blood clot in my leg in 2007 

and that is why I was put on the blood thinners

 and never taken off. 

 The neuro docs wanted to know if I had a-fib. 

 I was told once, long before 2007,

 that I had a fast heartbeat,

 and they put me on Diltiazem at that time

 and I never had any problems from that again, 

then when I had the blood clot,

 they put me on the thinners.

 I was never told that the two instances were connected and still don't know if they were.

The neuro docs kept asking me if I was on warfarin because of an a-fib problem

 and I kept telling them no, 

it was because of the blood clot. 

They were amazed that I had been on warfarin 

for that amount of time. 

 Now I am wearing a patch on my chest

 for the last two weeks

 for the possibility of symptoms 

that I have never felt.

  Yesterday I mailed the patch back to the company

 and it will be about 2 to 4 weeks

 before I get the outcome. 

 They did take me off of the warfarin 

and now I am taking Eliquis

 until they figure this all out.

The decorations are done in honor

 of our new great-grandson 

who will be 8 months old

 by the time Christmas rolls around next year.

Of course, by now, you have figured out

 that we postponed our Thanksgiving 

and reset it for last Saturday

 in combination with Christmas. 

 We then started decorating for Christmas

 the day after I came home from the hospital 

and though I was as good as new without any pain,

 my energy level was very low, 

so I didn't get the whole house done.  

I was only able to get a few things done

 in the entry, parlor and sitting room.

I wasn't happy with the outcome

 (nor the quality of my pictures)

 and that is almost devastating to me 

as you know how I love Christmas,

 but I knew it would only be worse,

 if I pushed to get more done

 and then,

 have no time to enjoy it all.

We did have our celebration, and it was wonderful. 

 If I find myself feeling sorry 

for what I didn't get done, 

I stop and think how fortunate we are

 as there could have been such a different outcome 

and things could have been so much worse.

  We feel very blessed and lucky.

Our friends and family 

have been telling us how blessed 

we have been in the weather department. 

 While they all have been surrounded by fog and cold, 

we have been sitting in a pool of sunshine.  

It has been beautiful here...

...but now we are catching up to all

 and having some really foggy rainy days

 but no snow yet this year.

I will continue on with a few more photos

 of our Crazy Quilt Christmas Cottage...

This is a very old vessel 

that was used for shipping tea 

to the United States from India or China,

 if I remember how the story goes.

 It was my mom's, but I don't know any more

 as to how, or why, she came to own it. 

 It is very heavy

 and in surprisingly good shape for its age. 

 I tried to find something out about it 

but was unable to. 

 If anyone might know something

 I would be thrilled to hear it.

  Someday I will do a more thorough search.

"Christmas is not a time nor a season,

but a state of mind. 

 To cherish peace and goodwill,

 to be plenteous in mercy,

 is to have the real spirit of Christmas."

Calvin Coolidge

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving 

and are looking forward to

 a blessed Christmas.

That pretty much wraps up

 the 2025 Crazy Quilt Christmas Cottage.

  Not quite a Hallmark movie

 and very close to a Horror show.

See you next year.

Merry Christmas.

Thanks for all your support throughout the year.  

I appreciate you all so much.

...xxoJudy...

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JUST IMAGINE...

 

Just Imagine:

The mistress of the Crazy Quilt Christmas Cottage 

tripping merrily across

 this beautiful snow covered bridge, 

on her way home from shopping for the essentials of the upcoming early Thanksgiving feast. 

 She now arrives, her heart full of excitement 

and her arms full of delectable treats and decorations 

to make a merry occasion for everyone...

Now, Just Imagine:

That same mistress of the 

Crazy Quilt Christmas Cottage,

 laying in a pool of blood,

 after tripping over the vacuum cleaner hose, 

landing on her head,

 with nary a flake of snow in sight...

Now, No More Imagination, Just Reality:

The Captain took me to Emergency 

where they sewed me up

 with four stitches in my head,

 performed a CT scan and sent me via ambulance 

to the Big House down the hill.

 (Mercy San Juan Hospital), 

with a brain bleed, 

a multitude of bruises all over my body, 

and a shiner of my right eye

 the size of a giant snowball.

I spent the night in the hospital, and they took numerous draws of blood and another brain scan. 

They were concerned because I am on blood thinners but as it turned out the bleed was very small. 

 I didn't have a headache or blurry vision or dizziness. Very lucky. 

 As it turns out, I shouldn't have been on the type of blood thinner that I was on 

for the length of time I was on it. 

What I thought was just about 10 or so years 

turned out to be since 2007!

 Needless to say, 

it all could have been much more serious.

I was home the next day 

but we did miss our early family Thanksgiving.

 Tim and Tami had made some beautiful enchiladas, 

but we never got to taste them.  

They drove up here on the spur of the moment 

and stayed a couple of days

 to get us settled when we came home

 and Jake and Jacenda drove to visit me in the hospital.

There will be additional doctor visits to get the blood thinners straightened out 

and I am now taking anti-seizure meds for a while. 

Too many pills and so many sore muscles

 that I didn't even know I had.

 We did order a new vacuum without a hose or a cord so we are trying to cover all the bases. 

We will figure out another date

 for our family Thanksgiving

 and will probably combine it with Christmas. 

 I might be doing Christmas a little different this year with not too much stuff 

which would probably be a good thing 

but, never fear, there will be something!

And, in the meantime:

Bitty Morsel and Gertie

 will be watching the news closely

 to find out what exactly will be going on with our Crazy Quilt Christmas Cottage 

so stay tuned.

Check out this darling little TV set 

that Bitty and Gertie are watching. 

 Jake and Jacenda gave it to me 

when I was in the hospital.

  It looks exactly like the Captain's folks TV set in their home when we were dating, circa 1960. 

 Cutest thing ever and it also plays 

6 different Christmas carols

 as the train goes around. 

I love it so much.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I'm sorry I didn't get to answer all your lovely comments from my last post. 

 I did put an additional one on 

under my post but who knows 

whoever comes back and reads those things.

  I am trying to put all my energy 

into decorating for Christmas

 but don't know if I will get much done.

  I love this time of year 

and what a bummer this had to happen now. 

 I will do what I can 

and be sure to share it with you 

no matter how little there is. 

...xxoJudy...

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A CRAZY QUILT CHRISTMAS COTTAGE - NOT QUITE A HALLMARK MOVIE...

When I was a young wife and mother of two,

 I was fortunate to not have to work outside the home. 

 I was able to give all my time
to my family and my housekeeping

and I was very happy to do so.

As the kids grew older and started school,

I wanted to take advantage of

 having my own little paycheck

 so, I could add to my growing love of

 antiques and crafting 

and not put any burden on our household budget.

I went to work for an elderly lady that I had met. 

 She was, then,

 probably close to the age that I am now. 

 I cleaned her house, ran errands for her,

 and lunched with her regularly.  

I think, in the beginning, I was probably more

 of a companion to her, 

but we became close friends.

She was an accomplished and interesting woman.

  I could sit and listen for hours about the dinner parties she hosted in her day

 and of all the exciting travels she and her husband had taken around the world.  

She came from the Sacramento area, 

to what was then, their summer home in Santa Cruz. 

 After retirement, they moved there permanently.  

It was a very modest home, that sat on the cliffs, 

with a spectacular view overlooking the ocean.  

The outside, although surrounded by 

beautiful flower gardens, 

did not leave a clue as to what was inside

She had the most wonderful collection of

 antiques I had ever seen 

and there were many stories as to how and why 

they had been acquired.  

Our love of old things was the great bond between us.

  In time, I rarely left her house

 without a beautiful hand painted piece of porcelain 

or some other beautiful something

 that she had generously gifted to me.

Unfortunately, during our time together,

 she lost her only daughter 

and then her husband of many years 

 and as her health started failing, 

she decided to move back to Sacramento 

to be closer to her grandchildren.  

Sadly, I never saw her again until her funeral,

 but every time I see one of those beautiful pieces that now belong to my collection, 

I think of Mrs. Mac and 

all the good times we had together 

and how much she taught me.

As I was cleaning out the cedar chest 

that we turned into a TV cabinet, 

I came across this beautiful quilt 

that she had given to me.  

It was one that she said an aunt had started 

but never finished.  

It is all hand pieced together with beautiful soft colors in silk, satin and brocades. 

 It is in wonderful shape and a very heavy piece. 

 It measures about 6 feet by 6 feet.  

I don't know why this style is called 'crazy quilt' 

as it is a beautiful work of art.

I was thinking the term crazy quilt 

reminds me of our little Cottage 

and how it has turned into

 a collage of many colors and styles. 

 A crazy quilt of things that make me happy

 all in one place. 

 It is why, when I was trying to pick a theme

 for this year's Christmas, 

I settled on "A Crazy Quilt Christmas Cottage".

I always plan a theme.  Do you? 

 Even though the decorations remain 

mostly the same from year to year, 

it just gives me a satisfied feeling to know 

that they are put together 

with a certain thought in mind, 

even if I am the only one who knows it.

I've tried to give you a small refresher course

 of some of our Christmas's past during this post. 

  I'm sure you will notice the great similarities

 between the past and the present

 when all is said and done 

 but, hopefully, my rendition will live up to 

what you would expect 

A Crazy Quilt Christmas Cottage to look like.

  Not quite a Hallmark movie...but close.

See you when the celebrations commence.

...xxoJudy...

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