A Merry Christmas To You All !

Saying good-bye

Jannella Faye Luttrell 3-25-40 to 2-22-15

 

 

First of let me say that I am sorry that I have been missing for so long. As the title hints at I have had to say good-bye to my momma.The above picture was taken some time last April. We (siblings) were finally given a diagnosis on what was really making her so ill about 10 days prior to her passing away. The small lung masses that we were assured of as being nothing to worry over ,should have been of great concern.They were indeed lung cancer and had already taken her right rib cage ,right kidney, spread  down into her abdomen and pelvic region invading her bones everywhere.By that time the cancer had also spread to the outside of her body. As a testimony to my momma's strength and will power she fought to the very  end.My mom had been told that she had kidney failure and should refrain from pain medications like tylenol ,ibuprofen and such.Up until the time of her last ER visit ( where we were given the dianosis) she would be in obvious pain but would not take beyond one tylenol  per day. My sister and I would practically beg her to take another one and she would say she did not want to make the kidney failure worse. Her last week was spent mainly in screams as the medication was not able to control her pain.

My momma was more than a mother she was my best friend.She taught  me how to  become the mother I am today as well as how to be  a loving wife to my husband. She was a quiet,reserved woman whose main objective was to see that her family had the best life could offer them.Her family was her world and she touched each of us in so many wonderful ways. I can not really think of anything that momma ever tried to do that she could not succeed  at. Momma may not have had all the material things in life to offer us but she gave us the greatest gift of all ...her love.She taught her children that in order to succeed you had to believe in what you were trying and that patience and love always wins out.She loved sewing,houseplants and grew some of the most amazing vegetable gardens. She was a light in a sometimes dark world.

I am trying to pull myself back into the day to day living of life .It is my plan to begin to visit the your blogs again soon.Life is slowly getting back to a routine,it is by no means normal.I guess as with all things I just have to come up with a new "normal" for me.In my lifetime there had only been a handful of days that I had not spent time with my momma. I was  greatly blessed to continue to live next to my parents after I was married..! Life continues though and with God's blessings my grief will pass and I will be able to rejoice in my wonderful memories of momma and daddy. Rest in peace Momma

I am going to close now for I am sure I have rambled way to long.I just wanted to let you all know that soon I will be back to visiting.Prayers and hugs,Jen

Christmas Wishes

Yes, it is I ,the long lost Country Mouse. Surprise probably doesn't cover the shock that you are experiencing.LOL! There was no way that I could allow Christmas to come and go without taking a moment to wish each of you dear sweet people the best. May each of you have the Merriest of Christmas Season !!!

I feel it only fair to explain my absence just a bit.My last post was about loosing my dear sweet friend Buddy.  While that was a hard blow,it was only the start.As some of you know, my mother has not been in the best of health for a while with a heart condition.At the time of Buddy's passing my mom was not acting herself but it was hoped that it was medicine related.Sadly, I must say it was not.Since June she has pretty much been bed ridden.In the last few months we have found out that she has a number of serious problems.I will list them as best I can...she has Chronic Kidney failure that goes back and forth between stage 3-4, 3 aneurisms on her aorta,pleural effusion, moderate COPD , 2 masses in her right lung ,congestive heart failure ,pulmonary hypertension of 70 +,high blood pressure,Osler Weber Rendu syndrome and suffered with hallucinations for a couple months.She is still occasionally  having some hallucinations. They are not nearly as bad as they were in the beginning.I feel as if I have left out something but as you can probably guess my brain is pretty much mush at the moment.Both the kidney doctor and cardiologist have said that there is nothing more that can be done for her.She is on full time oxygen support.

My mom is top priority in my life at the moment and will continue to be for as long as I am blessed to have her.I hope that you can understand why I do not visit or comment on your blogs.It is not that I have forgotten about any of you just that  I am so tied up at the moment. My sister and I are caring for momma and would appreciate any prayers that you care to send up for our family.

This post is not meant to be a downer at all.I am blessed to have my momma for  at least one more Christmas and for that I am thankful.It is my wish that if nothing else this post makes you grab someone you love just a little closer in a hug and be sure to tell them how much you love them.
Merry Christmas and God Bless each and every one of you! Hugs and love,Jen

Saying good bye

The past several weeks have been an up hill climb with one thing after another happening.I am sorry that I have not had time to be on the internet or keep up with your blogs.It is just that there have been many issues that prevented me from being able to do so,please forgive.

Today I come on just to say good bye to an old beautiful friend.This is a hard day but I know that it will eventually get better.My friend is now no longer in any pain and for that my heart is grateful.Buddy was just that,my buddy...He kept watch over the goats as well as me when I was around.He was a huge gentle giant.Six years was so not enough time to spend together.Rest in peace my big furry friend.

HACKED!

Friends please do not open any emails from me as my Yahoo account has been hacked once more! I am so very sorry! Hug,Jen

Have a Happy and Blessed Mother's Day !

Meeting a blogging buddy

This past Saturday was a wonderful day as I got to meet a blogging friend!!! Shirlee and I have been following each other  along on our  blogs for two years or more.We only live an hour and a half away from one another,so it was not a long travel time.I will let you in on a little secret....nervous does not begin to describe my feelings early Saturday morning. It was so silly of me, but you see I am a homebody and most of my friends are you folks online,so I just knew I would make a goober out of myself.Thanks Shirlee,hope you don't mind me borrowing your  word.LOL! It was all useless worrying on my part! Shirlee is a beautiful, dear person!She is as sweet and kind in person as she seems online.I have gotten to know her through her blog and private emails that we have exchanged over the last couple years.She has encouraged me so much spiritually as well as creatively. I am truly blessed to call her friend.

Shirlee's home is jaw dropping gorgeous!We are going to have to badger her to share more of it with everyone.She is an amazing cross stitcher and has helped me so many times with my questions,always being very patient .Even if it takes me several questions to understand things with my thick brain.LOL! Needle punching is something that Shirlee had tried before and gave up but I knew it would be easy for her to master it.She is a perfectionist in every since of the word,and that is why she was having trouble.As any of you that punch know when you start a  project it does not look like much of anything but the more you punch the better it looks.So even with my poor teaching skills Shirlee has indeed learned to punch.Be sure to check out her blog post to see her wonderful sheep.
Here is a pic of Shirlee working on her punch needle design..

You go girl! I think we have created a punch needle monster and I am loving it!
Shirlee and her husband are planning on listing their home for sale so she sent me home with so many beautiful and thoughtful gifts!I can not share all of it because that would take a month of blog posts.She is decluttering and reorganizing her things and I am so blessed that she shared the things she no longer needed or had room for.Yep, I am still doing a happy dance!!! Get ready to be blown away...

Love this old Sunshine Krispy cracker metal box!! And here is how I displayed it...

See that beautiful old walking wheel (from a spinning wheel) and that gorgeous butt basket,well those are from her as well!

I have wanted one of these huge jar lamps for a long while now,but had trouble finding one .

This little black doll was another gift..

This awesome grater light ...

This wonderful old oak sewing rocker!!!Yes you read that right...

Friends this is only a small part of the goodies I came home with on Saturday. She blessed me with so many wonderful things from crafting things to wonderful prim goods.The most wonderful gift though is the gift of her friendship!! If I had came home with nothing but memories of our day it would have been enough.She is a  wonderful Christian woman  ,a generous,& loving friend! Thank you dear friend for my many goodies but thank you most of all for that friendship!!

Here is a pic of Shirlee and I standing outsides.Pardon our windswept hair.LOL! It was already a bad hair day for me so the wind only made it worse.LOL!

I am off to hopefully check out your blogs.My computer has been behaving stupidly (could not be the operator.)so I will try it.Thanks again for a wonderful time Shirlee! Blessings,Jen