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.
See you next year.
Merry Christmas.
Thanks for all your support throughout the year.
I appreciate you all so much.
...xxoJudy...
Sharing today with:
Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda
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