5 posts published by Pam Sparks during August 2020
Cover illustration for NON magazine, August 2020 issue.
10 posts published by agilejack during August 2020
King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia of Spain visit 'Son Marroig' museum on August 08, 2019 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
It is the end of December now and still trying to catch up. Hello August. This piece was inspired by @Wensdimade on Instagram. I did mine on my I pad Pro with Procreate. The wild sunflowers in our backyard were even bigger then last year. I love sunflowers but this was way too much. I could not even see the path to the back of the yard and they crowded out my Zinnias. I still enjoyed looking at them though. The month started out trying to sell my moms car. There was more damage then I thought on the passengers side so I kept getting lowballed. After 3 attempts I finally found a buyer. It was sad to see it go but I knew it was time. The guy that bought it seemed like a great guy too. It made me happy to know it would finally get some use. The 2nd and 3rd buyers for my dad’s rental houses walked. The 3rd buyer brought in a structural engineer and they came up with over $30,000 worth of damage??? I knew they were not in good condition but I never thought they were that bad. Our real estate agent wanted us to bring in her own structural engineer to see what he thought but wanted us to pay for part of it. She said she would go in half so I was okay with it. What he found was not good, we thought we were going to have to sell it for land value but then another buyer came in and said he would take them as is but for even less money. We were not happy about that but felt it was better to just be done with them at that point. We still had major problems ahead though. More about that in the next few updates. In the meantime, I was continuing to look for places for my mom to go to once she got done at Skilled Nursing. I even looked into bringing her home with 24/7 care but most agencies wanted around $32.00 an hour. I don't know how anyone can afford that. The cheapest agency I could find was $6000.00 a month but that did not include the expenses to keep up the house. I also did not feel comfortable with the guy that ran the agency. He told me he could get people to be with her but wouldn't let me meet anyone first or give me more information about them. He was also not very professional. I had to ask him to send me something in writing about what services he was offering and they were all done in a word doc. Very odd. My friend whose mom has Alzheimer has used him for over 8 years but even she said that did not sound right to her either. I could not find another way to afford to bring her home with care long term which made me sad. The assisted living house I was thinking about sending her ended up having red flags too. I was talking to the the lady that runs it and she told me that they drugged one of their residents when she got out of control. I did not like hearing that especially after what happened with my dad. I ended up calling a few more places on my own because the people I was working with would not give me any other options. I found out that is because they only send you to people they have contracts with which sucks. I was still not able to find a place to take her because of her arm. Mom was finally starting to like the SNF though and was not even asking to go home which made me feel better about her being there and I was thinking about looking into possibly keeping her there in their long term care but she got into a fight with her roommate and they had to call the police. I have conflicting stories on what happened. The case worker told me that the roommate pushed her or took away the wheelchair and they found my mom on the floor of the bathroom. She had a skin tear on her left leg but they said other than that she was not hurt. When I talked to her and asked her what happened she said the roommate woke her up hitting and kicking her?? I asked her how she ended up on the floor in the bathroom then and she said she did not know so I didn't know what to believe. I talked to my APS lady after that and she said she would let me know when she got the report but I don't think they ever filed one. They did end up separating them and put her back in her own room again which made her not want to be there again. The weird thing was they told me she and the roommate were friends and were planning their escape together. It was like dealing with children, but you cannot just pick them up and put them in their room. The roles have reversed, and I hate it. I was finally able to get a photo of the wound on her arm. They thought it was looking much better, I thought it still looked awful and was really worried that is was never going to heal. They ended up changing the way they were taking care of it and it finally started to look better. Shortly after that mom got a discharge date from the SNF for August 20th because they said she had "plateaued" and Medicare wouldn't pay to keep her there any longer. I decided to go ahead and try the assisted living house but found out it was not available anymore because the person that was leaving decided to stay. They said there was a room in another house and was going to take that one but when she sent me the paperwork to sign the first thing I saw was a page saying that they could drug her with antipsychotic and anxiety meds. No way I was signing that especially after what happened with my dad and she knew that. I started frantically searching the internet to try an find her another place to go. We only had 3 days left at that point though. I finally found a place on my own with Google's help called Juniper Village in Aurora. It looked like a great place. After I told them what happened they did everything they could to get her out of the SNF in time. They even furnished the room for her. I had gone over the day before to take her some of her things from the house to make the room more familiar for her when she got there and had a good feeling while I was there. I should have known it was to good to be true though. They kept telling me when they were selling me on the place that they "over communicate" which I was very happy to hear. Trying to get information about my mom in the places she has been before this had been very difficult so I was really happy to hear that. Unfortunately that was not true. I never heard from anyone after her arrival, I was told I was going to be getting photos and videos of her day and never got those either. I was at least expecting to hear from the doctor there so we could discuss the ongoing wound care she was going to need and her meds and never heard from him. I found out later they fired the wellness director that day. What are the chances of that happening? It was not no excuse for the lack of communication. I was originally going to use Hospice with her but they told me to wait until he evaluated her to decided on that. I was able to talk to her after she got there and she was not happy which was upsetting. She was telling me that there was nothing wrong with her and she did not need to be there and was going home. I was hoping she would at least have something good to say. I was starting to second guess myself again but I knew she could not go home either. We just didn't have the money for 24/7 care and keep the house going. She ended up saying she was getting a lawyer so I told her I was hanging up. I called back to talk to someone about how things were really going and they told me she was doing good. Said she had gone to a Luau earlier in the day. When I asked her what she had done she said nothing. I also found out her TV was not working. I brought it over so she could watch her movies. She loves TMC and they said they had cable. The guy I talked to said they were having someone out to fix it. I also found out they put her in 14 day quarantine again. That did not help anything. I thought she was not going to have to do that because they tested her. We finally got to see her on the patio the end of the month. It have been over 2 months since we last saw her in person. While we were there the doctor came over to talk to me, He did not think she needed wound care. He had a crazy idea to keep it closed with butterfly bandages even though it was still draining and wanted her to go back to the hospital as an outpatient to get it closed up with stitches?? I told him we didn't want to go back to anymore hospitals but he said he was calling the orthopedic surgeon she saw in the last hospital to talk to him about it. He also felt we didn't need to do anything about her other medical problems. On top of that he didn't want her using hospice and they refused to let them in to even evaluate her. He basically ruined the visit for me. I left there trying to figure out another option. On the way there the check engine light came on in the car. Luckily we were not far from the dealer. Turned out it was just a lose hose 129.00 later. :( I was also continuing to deal with selling my dads properties. The 2 rental houses were set to close the first week of September. We got an offer on the commercial property as well but it was a lot less than the asking price and the hot water heater had gone out so more things to fix. The real estate agent thought we should accept the offer because it was an all cash and they said they would take care of the current tenants. My sister and I talked about it and agreed to see what happened, I was afraid that if we didn't take it the current tenant could walk and then we would lose it because we couldn't pay the mortgage. I also was still trying to decide what to with my moms house. I decided to get a few more opinions on what it was really worth before we made the decision on how to sell it. It turned out it was worth a lot less then we thought so decided to put that on hold until we finished with the other properties. Also once the house is sold there is no going back and that is going to be hard. I just wish they had done better with their money and they still owned all the properties free and clear. If they had done that she could be home with care. I just want my mom to be happy, in a place where I don't have to worry about her care but I can still be involved and see her. I am not sure if that is ever going to happen though. On top of all this Indie did something to her eye and ended up back at the vet. She had a corneal ulcer not sure how that happened. Thankfully the meds they prescribed helped. She looked like Popeye though. Things in my Etsy shop were slow but steady. I got this great photo from a return buyer of her new dog wearing my girl dog birthday hat. Isn't she adorable? She looks like my Lily and her name is Sophie too. Finally I had some time to do this piece for the Florals and Praise for his glory challenge on Instagram. This verse came at the perfect time. I did mine on my I pad pro with Procreate. Still hoping to be caught up by the end of the month.
In this month´s roundup series of EDC (Everyday Carry), we pick some items that are carried on a consistent basis to assist you in dealing with normal everyday needs of modern society, including possible emergency situations. Every guy could use a l
Hello all, Since I focussed on naturalistic arrangements last week, it seems natural to, now, focus on modern. Camellias are mostly used naturalistically, however, by stripping subordinate stems and leaves and placing them in this vertical, copse-like fashion, they create a modern look. The stainless steel container adds to the desired effect. In the arrangement, blow, I used curved arum lilies and their leaves, which I folded and pinned to create an interesting shape but, also, to take away their naturalistic appearance. The container, again, was chosen deliberately to add to the modern look. It also fits the theme 'Paying attention to the shape of the container'. As you all know by now, I manipulate quite a few of the plants in my garden to create interesting shapes. Sometimes, however, I go too far and end up breaking them. Case in point, the cordyline in the arrangement, below. I bent it too far and it broke. On its own it can be quite dull, so I removed the leaves from the right side of the stem and curled the remaining leaves on the left. The daffodils were, again from our florist who had put them out on a table but, this time, they were asking for donations for 'Daffodil Day'. Judging by the amount of money in the jar, many people were happy to donate.And we ended up with pretty flowers. In my case, I don't grow daffodils in my garden because I always thought them too difficult to use. Now that I'm a convert, I will plant some next year. The simplicity of this next arrangement, belies the difficulty in keeping the strong gymea lily leaf (Dorianthes palmeri) in the desired position. The mass is made with flowers from a small tree growing on the road, the name of which I've not been able to find out. I've included a photograph showing the three stages of the flowers in the hope that someone might recognise it and let me know. I'd be most grateful. The three different mechanics used to keep the leaf in place My crucifix orchids have grown and spread over a number of pots. It's such a big mass that I can't see the original pots. They seem to be drawing the nutrition they need from the masses of aerial roots. As I was foliar feeding them, I noticed the curve of this stem with one of the few flowers on it. The aspidistra leaf was sitting in the bucket slowly changing colour. The container is just a piece of glass with two holes in it. It was the base of a television set we bought years ago. I place a shallow plastic dish underneath for water and a kenzan. The thick bent wire in the arrangement, below, is one of two pieces I keep in the garage and I use when I want to spray colour some material. I push them into the lawn and place my branches or leaves on top and, then, proceed to spray. This particular piece had an interesting bend, to which I added more bends, I was looking for an appropriate foil for my rather long stemmed hyacinths and this wire came to mind. The only down side is that it is quite heavy requiring care in the choice of container. I leave you with this wall arrangement using curculigo leaves and daffodils. Bye for now, Emily
What could be better than morning tea on the sunny front porch before rain, thunder, lightning and perhaps a little snow? Now, it’s time to get cracking with your August Newsletter. There’s lots to share. Both the Annual and Mini (Christmas) catalogues have launched, and I have some other exciting announcements to share with you. These are the topics I’ll…
Being a Disciple. Awesome August 2020. Gather, Prepare, Scatter, Repeat.
August 2020 photos, a collection of photographs that Garry has taken while out and about on his bike. Or have been added to the website.
Welcome to the Greetery, where making and giving meet! We are a crafting boutique, specializing in high quality photopolymer clear stamps, wafter thin steel dies, and stencils for card making, paper crafting, and scrapbooking. Our stamps, dies, and stencils are all made in the USA!
Princess Leonor of Spain, Queen Letizia of Spain and Princess Sofia of Spain attend the 38th Copa del Rey Mapfre Sailing Cup on August 01, 2019 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Hey y’all-it’s hard to believe August is over, and summer is coming to a close! Fall doesn’t officially begin until the third week of September,…
King Felipe VI of Spain, Queen Letizia of Spain, Infanta Leonor of Spain (L) and Infanta Sofia of Spain (R) visit Naum, a Socio-Educational centre on August 11, 2020 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
36X36 from Winners Bouquet pattern
Your Tarotscope insights for August 2020 from our resident gifted Healer and guru, Rory McMahan.
