Comments On Article: A Different Perspective

Claudia, I saw your photos and had to jump right on to applaud.  Very sweet  your friend will love it.  The quilting stitching is just lovely!  For those who are quilters I wanted to share something about binding a lady in our foster kid quilt ministry taught us.  Many of us will do the first machine stitching to attach the binding as usual.  Then when we flip the binding to finish it we will use the wavering stitch on our machines to topstitch the binding.  This secures the binding very well and because it isn’t a straight stitch we don’t have to be so careful to make sure the stitch is perfectly straight  (I confess to being anal about such things.)   This goes far faster than stitching that binding down by hand and gives an interesting texture to the binding.

I think it wa someone on here who mentioned Nella Last’s War.  I am so enjoying reading it!  This is the diary of a lady who lived in England during WWII.  It is so interesting to read what the women who lived then were actually thinking .  I came across a quote I thought was just EXCELLENT for any of us who do craft work.  She had just discussed their feelings that the governments wasn’t supporting their efforts at the relief center as well as they should financially.  But the ladies were resourceful and made it work.  She talked about their pride at seeing photos of the POW’s receiving the boxes they put together for them.  They also made things to sell in a shop to pay for items for the boxes as well as making lots of items for hospitals.  Then she added “It’s not a bad place to have one’s brains…..in one’s fingers!”  Don’t you love that!  Not just for crafters but for keepers of our homes.

Stephanie G, I too have found much wisdom in Grandma Donna’s posts, which is why I’m trying to work out a solution to continue reading, and perhaps comment as time allows.  I was thinking maybe I would choose one day out of the week and look at the blog during my morning desk time.

I loved your earlier comment about your break pointing you to the garden.  For me, while I expected the arrow to point to my craft room, instead it was pointing to my church community and neighbors.  For a couple of years I went to a new church because my young adult child felt more comfortable there.  I tried to go to both my old church and the new church, but really only made it to the old church a handful of times per year, and I felt disconnected because the change had come during the pandemic, which had also weakened connections. Last fall when I went to an evensong service, I was introduced to the new rector, and he told me it was my home no matter how often I was there.  That stuck with me!  My illness got worse and I didn’t go anywhere for awhile, but I started watching the choral Eucharist online, and in October I made the decision to go back permanently.  I think it’s going to take time to truly feel like part of the community again, but I’m more than willing to make the effort.  Like many churches, attendance is down post-pandemic.  As an older congregation, we’ve lost some members to death.  There are definitely a few people we were close to who have been standoffish, and some who recognize us but can’t quite place us.  Over the decades our attendance has ebbed and flowed, but we were very connected and involved prior to the pandemic.  It most definitely feels like home!

My desk time is up for today!

Kimberly F -- That is so wonderful that the break pointed you back to your community. :)

In 1930, they had boundaries. The radio didn't play 24 hours a day. Stores weren't open all of the time. If you wanted to buy something, you might be able to use a check or a charge plate, but most people had to go to the bank to get money to go to the store, and the banks were only open certain hours. Movies had certain set times at the theater. Are we the first people with no boundaries? People in the past didn't have to try and develop as much discipline as we do because they had a lot of boundaries. 

When I wasn't distracted during the break, my mind had a chance to think thoughts that never had a chance to surface before. I liked those thoughts. :) But I also get so much value out of reading other people's comments. Every single time there's a new post and new comments, I learn something that helps me make my life better. I'm not sure what to do yet, but I'll keep thinking about it. It took about two seconds after my break to fall into bad habits again!

Grandma Donna,

Thank you for another wonderful post, the title is so appropriate.   My perspective definitely changed during the month long break. It was difficult at first but after a few days I realized that the hours of mindless scrolling were being replaced with productivity and contentment. The only time I used the internet was to log into my email account once a week to delete any unwanted emails. Honestly, the only thing I missed about being online during the month was your posts and this forum.  I was able to complete unfinished projects around the house, read several books, and spend quality time with my husband and 2 cats. They seemed to enjoy the extra lap time. 

I made a list of foods and items that I needed for the upcoming holidays and when those items were on sale I bought them throughout the month. My pantry and freezer are well stocked for the holidays and I need only a few more items to complete the list. I made some soups and chili to freeze for future meals.    My biggest project for the month was a Fall home cleaning and  decluttering  and I am still working on that. I will repurpose some items and donate some as well. 

I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments and look forward to continuing the 1930's study. 

Kieva A-   I am sorry that you are going through such a difficult time. I will keep you and your family in thought and prayer. 

Angela

I just got home from a lovely visit with my grandmother and I finally realized why I enjoy reading this blog. It feels like visiting my grandmother, every time I read a post.
A few days ago I started 'back-reading' and I am reading posts from 2017 onwards. It is so nice to have so much sensible things to read. i remember all the ideas and thoughts I had. I am darning a sock currently, and then will darn a small hole in a pyjama shirt. After that it's even more mending and fixing!
When I come home from visiting my grandmother I feel at peace, at home, overall very comfortable. I have new ideas, but I am not overwhelmed. It is my time to properly slow down and enjoy her company.
She also has many interesting things to say, and lots of memories of the old times. Unfortunately for me, she doesn't remember the Second World War, but maybe that's a good thing. Her memories are more of the late 40s onward. We had a good discussion about her old wringer washer. She said she had 3 dozen diapers to wash everyday, alongside other things. For 2 years she had to do daily laundry with her wringer washer and her clothesline! She is very happy to have an electric washer and dryer now. I think she also would have appreciated disposable diapers as an option, to give her a break!
She showed me how to find real crystal glasses, she was the one to teach me to polish silver. Today she asked me to make bread for her, because it takes her quite a while.
She has so much to share, memories, knowledge. She said she barely had enough for food back in the day, nevermind enough to colour her hair or get such fancy things! Her mother could take a coat, cut it down and fix it up, and there was a new coat. Rags were made into quilts, no matter how crazy they looked. It was all about staying warm!
When she got older she got to travel and see all kinds of places with her husband. That was after she raised her kids, when they had retired and saved up enough of course.
I should probably stop rambling here. Just wanted to say it is a pleasure to have this blog!

Victoria W We live about an hour and a half away from the hospital so I understand the struggle of that long drive. I mostly live here at John Hopkins while my son is admitted and I travel home 1-3 times a week as I can and when he is doing well. I am grateful that I have past military experience that makes a lot of this very familiar in many ways. I am used to living among many strangers, being awaken in the middle of the night by alarms and people, long commutes, time away from my family, and even getting to learn odd jargons. I was a Navy Firefighter so even emergency situations are familiar to me. The good thing about the military is that the emergency situations rarely involve children (and especially our own). That's the hardest thing of all of this to adapt to. I feel for those families who are not used to all the things I am used to and also have to adjust to their child being sick. That has to be overwhelming. Tomorrow the cardiac surgeons at John Hopkins are having a conference and my son will be one of their talking points. They want to discuss the timing for his heart surgery. My son is a good weight for the surgery, which isn't usually the case with Down Syndrome babies often his age. So if they decide to go forward with it early then he likely will do well. Hopefully tomorrow we will know more on if we will be staying here for an extended period of time or if we will be going home here soon. Thank you so much for your prays and kind words. 

Kimberly F thank you also for your prayers. There are so many good things about advanced technology but, you are right, there are so many terrible things too. Learning to walk that line of what's beneficial and what isn't really is tough. I agree with others in that setting a specific time to post and read online content would probably help in finding that balance. Developing the self discipline to stick to that plan would be the hard part. 

Claudia O thank you for your prayers. They are very much needed right now. God bless.

Stephanie G, Thank you. Yes, John Hopkins  is a wonderful hospital. They have taken care of me just as well as they have taken care of my son. Their support makes it possible for me to stay here with my son. If they didn't allow me to stay in his room, supply laundry machine access, shower access, and even feed me I wouldn't be able to afford to be here with him. 

Sharon A, I have thought of you while we've been here. I regret to say that even though I tried not to lose your contact information ....I did. I forgot your name and what post it was under also. I am so sorry. Thank you for your offer and I would like to meet you. We are currently in the PCICU and our room phone number is 443-287-2298. Don't worry about waking him or I. He sleeps through pretty much everything and I have many options for naps these days while bedside. 

Angela B, Thank you for your prayers and kind words. God bless. 

Gdonna, Thank you. I truly believe you would be at my home, holding down the fort for me if you lived closer and I am so grateful for the thought of it. Thank you for your prayers also. 

I wanted to introduce you to a project you might find of interest and it would involve keeping your hands busy and away from technology. While here at John Hopkins I was introduced to a program called Beads of Courage. The cardiologist signed us up for it before my son was born as soon as they knew he has a congenital heart defect. This program gives children beads for things they have to go through when chronically ill. I have found it very comforting. My son has beads for each overnight stay, each echocardiogram, each chest X-ray, each IV, PICC line, ultrasound....when he's transfered from NICU to PCICU and a discharge bead. We probably have hundreds already. Well these are handmade beads. The discharge bead we got was a little bear head! It's adorable. These tiny beads mean so much to us and wouldn't take but a little time to make. I have seen your art projects and thought maybe you'd be interested in making beads for beads of courage. The instructions are online. I do believe this would be a thing women would do back in the 30's too. I do hope this doesn't break the promoting rule for your page. If it does, please do delete. I just thought you or even some of the girls on here might find inspiration in doing a project like this. I would like to find time myself to make these adorable beads. 

God bless you both as you adjust to retirement and continue on with your studies. 

Kieva A, I've been praying for you and your baby since you commented a couple months ago. I read about the beads and while I don't think I can contribute beads I see that they accept donations of little handmade bags to hold the beads. I can sew. The beads are wonderful idea. Thanks for letting us know about them.

Margaret P, Thank you so much for your prayers and for mentioning the bags. I remembered the bags after I had already posted and regretted not mentioning them myself. I was given a really cute draw string bag with little bears all over it for my son's beads. I adore that bag as much as I do the beads. 

So it’s not even been two weeks and I think I am going back to the tech fasting :-). I won’t be as strict as I was during October, but I know the world has been given the hand-basket and the Bon Voyage flags are waving.  I will continue doing what I can from my meager little spot on this earth.