Horribly rainy days

This is a view of the walk way during a brief lull in the stormy day. We, fortunately, can keep ourselves busy. Mom is reading a lot, and in this photo she's wearing a scarf she made yesterday. Behind her is one of the pillows she made since I've been here and below is a pillow cover she's working on for her son-in-law Jerry.
Mom loves stuffed toy animals. The lady bug is one that I brought her this trip and the monkey is one she's had awhile. It used to make a noise, an awful noise, but Mom got a kick out of it. My sister decided to do some monkey surgery and opened up the toy to see how it worked. Well, it had tiny batteries in it and my sister just by chance had the necessary three tiny batteries. She popped them in, sewed the monkey back up, and now: it makes this awful noise! Mom is delighted with it. Fun on a rainy day. It's raining now and will continue to rain. Southern California in the winter time is not so sunny!

about a scary night

So last Saturday, I was helping mom get ready for bed, when she felt faint and weak on her left side. She was very frightened, of course, We called emergency and had her taken to the emergency room of the hospital,which is very close to where she lives. My sister and I spent Saturday night and Sunday morning in the ER. Mom was admitted at 4 a.m. finally and my sister and I went back to her place and were so hungry that we ate part of the noodle pudding (kugel) that I'd made for mom's Sunday celebration. We were so tired! Mom only stayed over night. We brought her home in time for her celebration. Yay! This is a photo of a tree by the hospital parking area and a view of the mountains from her room. Here is the kugel, and the recipe is here. Mom is now back to making covers for pillows. These are two that she made while I've been here. I crocheted the parts together for her. In the background is one of the many afghans she made, but now can't remember how to do the pattern. She made one for pratically everyone in the family. They are our treasures, next to mom herself!

Celebration Mom

Mom's birthday is 19 Jan. but we had a pot luck family celebration yesterday. Mom was asleep as people arrived, having been in hospital overnight. While waiting for her to awaken, some family members played scrabble, while others eyed the tempting food on the buffet, which included a gelatin mold, a big salad, tuna salad, salmon cakes, bread, and baked goods AND a fabulously delicious red velvet cake! Mom was a happy camper when she awoke to find most of her family in her tiny home. She loved opening her cards, blowing out her candles and eating her cake. Yay for Mom, just about 96. And this morning, she began to read the new Fern Michaels book that she got as a gift. Doesn't she look engrossed in it?

another day in L.A.

We've been busy here at Mom's. The items on the low boy have been dusted and rearranged. Here's one of the pix of my parents from back in the day. My sister set up the exercise equipment, like a regular rehab gym, in her living room, and mom did her exercises. Doesn't it look like Mom is tap dancing?

Fruit, Mom and more

It's been really good being here to help my sister and spend time with mom. We've been cleaning and dusting and going through things, while mom knits. Yes, MOM KNITS!! It's amazing to see her still able to do it. We found this family portrait and, though hard to take a photo of it through the glass, I'm happy to have it turn out so clearly. This is Mom with her family. She is the eldest of the girls. Today, Mom did her physical therapy. My sister worked with her and even got her outside for a little walk down the driveway. The lemons came from my sister's tree. Several were really strange looking, I mean really strange! Here's one example.


The other night, my nieces and I played with Scrabble tiles, a game of their own devising, which I called Babble. We laughed a lot while making up words, definitions or acronyms, all hilarious. You had to be there!

Little me!

W3LL PEOPLE

My niece is a make up artist. You can see her work here. When she came to hang out with my mom (her grandma) and me last night, she showed me the new line of cosmetics that she is representing: W3LL PEOPLE. The company is new but is already reviewed on the Cosmetic Safety Data base and the ratings are terrific. Check it out for yourself here. As regular readers of my blog know, I've been posting about products and giving links regarding the safety of products that we use on our skin, or other items, like plastic bottles. I have been concerned about this for awhile but my concerns were heightened after our young cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer. The products of this company are without the biggest offenders in cosmetics and skin care products. What are they? Pthalates, Parabens, and petrochemicals. They also do not test on animals according to their literature though that isn't shown on the data base. They do have titanium dioxide in small amounts because they want to provide UVA/UVB protection. I loved the colors and the feeling of the products. My niece did a little demo for me. I would have loved to have had her do make-up on my face, but by the time we did this it was really late. We, also had fun setting up the products to photograph them. (disclosure: I do not represent this company; they haven't asked me to review their company; and, they haven't given me any gifts!)