Supporting some one that has lost a loved one. Facebook is not the answer.

 

It has been three and a half months since I lost my oldest son.  Yes the grief is still very raw however it has allowed me to see who my supporters are and affirm my doubts of who I thought would surly be there.  If you know someone  that has suffered a great loss take a meal, pick the phone up and call or send a card.  Do not let your inability to know what to say stop you from letting them feel how important they are to you and how much you love them.  Lets be honest there is nothing you can say to lessen their pain or bring back that loved one.  However , a simple "I love you " , " could you use some company right now?" and a provided meal can speak volumes at the end of a hard day for a person in grief.  Let me say this Facebook does not count!!!  Get off your ass and find the time to make a personal effort.  Facebook is okay to post your kids birthday pictures, yard sale pictures and wedding pictures.  It is okay to announce events and swoon and brag on your kids accomplishments on Facebook.  To think that it is a substitute for "checking in on people you love and keeping up with them , is depressing.  We can find time to binge Netflix, Prime and you tube.  We can find time to go on vacation , shop and play bejeweled and spider solitaire on our phones and computers.  These are for our entertainment and consume a lot of our time.  I have been guilty .  These activities do not require us to give of ourselves or our time and it shows in our families and in the world.  We make time for what we think is important.   

Last night I attended a memorial service given by Powers Funeral home of the families they had served this year.  There was over 500 people remembered and my Son was one of them.  This is one funeral home in our county.  It was sobering at how death does not discriminate. Time is not promised, how are you spending yours.  Are you making it count?

Love to you all,

Sheryl 

Dealing with the loss of a Child

  Ecclesiastes 3:1-2: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die."

July 17, 2024 my little buddy got his wings. He is no longer under my care, he is with his Father in heaven.  The numbness is wearing off and I am not adjusting well to life with out him.  I basically cry when I wake in the morning and when I go to bed  cry myself to sleep.  When I added the photo I cried.  This little guy was my purpose for almost 31 years.  I woke up for him, to get him up, manage his health care and love him.  The last two years have been with Home Hemodialysis; the first 5 hours of the day , 5 days a week, was dialysis.  

His mornings started between 6:30 and 7:00 am.  That is the first difficult time of the day.  There is something I should be doing, and their is no one to do it for.  I will admit I do go in his room and start his music and turn his lamp on.  Music was in our house at least 12 hours a day and he was the DJ.    I manage to mutter through the day and most of the day I have no idea what day it is or what time it is and to be honest I do not care.   My little buddy was a task master.  Vitals, medication, meal prep and hugs and kisses dropped from the minute hand filling my day with him!   4:30 pm he would put his "order in" for dinner.  "I want Grilled chicken with asparagus, cucumbers, chocolate pudding and Honey mustard"  Was his favorite and dinner was served at 5:00.  TV, Walker Texas Ranger and trolling the house to: "just 'checkin' on you " until 7:00 pm bed time.  I am numb and my heart hurts and will hurt until I die.  Joe gave unconditional love to everyone.  He told strangers in Lowes he loved them and he never met a stranger.  In his last moments he apologized to me  because I was sad.

  I do not know what to do with myself.  I have "free" time with a Heart bound by grief.  There is  no Joe hugs, no announcing his favorite George Strait video "Chalk Board!", no kisses, no dancing, no asking when his brother will be home or declaring his Love for his brother.  So much of our home was Joe.  No calling Daddy Walker  and I am no longer Alex. My husband and I have to redefine our relationship we are no longer a medical care tag team.

  I know if " God brought me to it he will get me through it" and that is a good thing, because I do not think I will get through this on my own.  I do know one thing so far from this pain and grief; Life is fleeting, fragile, and if you have people in your life that you love but do not make time for stop it.  There is no guarantee of tomorrow and once that loved one passes time is over.  You cannot make up the days that you decided you had something else more important todo.  I was blessed with being there for Joe's final moments I got to tell him I loved him.  We spoke of God and Jesus and the fact that he would wake up in Gods House with a new body.  He would be whole in Christ.  What a wonderful promise and Joe believed and loved his Jesus.

 John 11:25-26: "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die."

Until we see each other again little buddy .

Mom  aka Alex

Piano stool upcycle makeover , shabby chic

 

This piano stool was the right price and had potential.  

A vintage stool.  It has seen better days.  It needed to be recovered and painted.  I like the size a great place to stack books, drop your purse or with a tray a resting spot for a plant.

I removed the top and the Naugahyde cover off of it.  I found a Waverly curtain panel at the good will for two bucks.

This will make the perfect cover.  

I cut the curtain to fit added some batting for a little extra padding and grabbed the stapler.

  One leg was damaged on the bottom so I sanded it level and put a furniture leg pad on it to prevent a wabble.  

The base I sanded and painted with Dixie Belle mud puddle paint color, distressed, applied clear wax then dark to age it. 

The color Mud Puddle has mauve to pink undertones to it and matched the rose fabric perfectly.

She is priced and will go to Vintage Collections in Camden SC on June 6th

Now if I could have this much fun pulling weeds out of the sidewalk.

May you always find potential in everything.

Sheryl

Woman Cave face lift Shop replacement door modified 15 pane French door

 

That door was an upcycle from the porch remodel. It is the original back door off the house.

and is over 30 years old.  It is also ugly!  

We found a 15 pane single french door at one of our favorite second hand stores, Hidden Treasures in Elgin SC.  It was the right price so we snagged it.

It was the correct width but a little tall.  

so we cut it down to fit the She Shed. 

Fortunately when we pulled the old door off we saw a few deck boards that needed to be replaced.

Mr. RTI is an amazing builder but window repair not so much.  Red Green would be so proud!  He could be an honorary member of the Possum Lodge with that duct tape application. Luckily he is the one that broke the window and gladly went the extra mile to replace it.

The windows in the shop are also from a home remodel  .  We decided to take the bottom window out of the opposite window, hidden by the Red Honey suckle , and install it to the left of the door.  The most light comes through that window.  And drop in some exterior wall board in place of the window.  

This was also the perfect opportunity to refresh with some exterior weather beater white paint.

I think I will leave the door the off color.  It will match the same theme at the Green house. 

 I mean who wants to paint around all of those windows!  

If you live in the area check out Hidden Treasures in Elgin on Main Street and a second location on Green Hill road in Elgin.

Happy Thrifting!

Sheryl

Singer embossed treadle cabinet drawer upcycle

 First I apologize for not getting Pictures!  This will be a quick share.

I recently found an old Singer treadle machine case at a great deal.  It had some water damage on one side however the right hand side of drawers was in nice shape.  These drawers with the runners are so easy to remove Simply 4 screws hold these to the bottom of the treadle case top.  They with little effort make great table top storage.

I had some barn boards with great saw marks on them.  I married all of the pieces together and added a little dixie bell chalk paint and wax .

Happy hunting!

sheryl

Sugar Bucket upcycle

 Some times you need to know when to stop.  I recently found a sugar bucket at Habitat it had a broken lid and some one decided that they needed ,in magic marker, to add their initials to it. Every thing else about the bucket was primitive heaven.  

I managed to glue the lid top back together but reattaching the rim was difficult.  It literally fell apart every time I tried manipulate it.  I decided to omit the rim.

Now I have a sugar bucket not in its original state.  Rim broken and removed so the lid will not stay on top and removing the lid with out a rim is frustrating.  

I had found a well used wooden trowel on one of my excursions and picked it up just because it was well worn and you just never know when you may need a trowel.

I decided the handle on the trowel was some what primitive enough to be a up Cycled Sugar Bucket lid handle.

I addressed the sliding of the lid with an old dowel.  I cut three 1/4 inch pcs off and attached them under the lid.  The positioning was off the edge a smidge over the thickness of the bucket wall.

You drop the lid on and it will not slide off.

Now the general state of the bucket was beautiful in my opinion.  I did not think I could replicate the color of the original paint so I stopped here and decided not to paint.   I sanded the lettering off as best I could and applied clear and dark wax to age those scuffed areas.  

I also cleaned and waxed the interior.

A perfect storage container in any room of any home!

Hope you have good one!

Sheryl