Thursday, July 19, 2007

Cleaning

Thank you for your encouragement yesterday. We're hanging in there!

I find I can't send e-mails from this computer, (I have no idea why and I haven't wanted to bother my brother with asking him to teach me) so I haven't replied to anyone's comments. I wish I could.

While camping out in my mom's house I've been trying to do little chores though she isn't happy with me when she knows what I'm doing. I've tossed some plants that seemed to be ant infested and I've rearrange piles of paper so that at least people can sit down. Hardly dare to throw anything away except for pizza adds and old magazines but even those she is liable to notice are gone. She is queen of paper clutter that's for sure! She has typewritten copies of all the cards and letters she's ever written plus copies of all meeting minutes that she was ever secretary to etc. Paper is piled in mountains! My theory is that even if you save it, if you can't find it, it is as good as gone, but she and I have never agreed on this and there is no purpose in trying to reason with her now. So I move the piles.

In the process of cleaning I came across a couple of my quilts. The one is another Bible quilt, probably one of the first I ever made. I gave this first one to my mother and since she doesn't have much room in her little house/apartment, it has always been hidden behind a door. Isn't it interesting how our color preferences change? I really fretted over the colors in this quilt but it doesn't really strike me when I look at it now.

The next little quilt I made is a paper pieced one I found and ordered from Paper Panache. It was just cheery and I had been ordering other things so I decided to make this for my mom since she loves birds. I don't really know if she liked it or not and she's had it stuffed under some PAPERS for the past couple years. I pulled it out for a picture but unless I put it up somewhere I think it is going to end up back in the piles. Maybe I should just steal it and take it back to Japan! (What a low-down daughter to think such a thing!!) I won't. I'll leave it for her piles.

Washing windows, vacuuming, cleaning spots off of the carpet, dusting. What a busy bee I can be when I put my mind to it! No thought of patchwork or quilting whatsoever! Tetsu probably wishes I were so industrious when I'm in my own house!

6 comments:

Connie W said...

Tanya, Such pretty quilts, too bad your mom didn't hang them where she can see & enjoy them. Sorting through paper, that's a big task. Since you can't send emails, leave a comment on my blog telling me what kind of fabrics you're interested in so I can put some in the mail to you while you're still here in the states. Thanks so much for my package, I love everything in it! Connie

Laurie Ann said...

That sounds like my mother. It drives me crazy and it sounds like you are more tolerant than I am. But my mom not only has paper everywhere she also has garbage, so I won't go to her house. I think you should take the poor little birdies home!

anne bebbington said...

Either take them home or sneakily get them put up on the wall for her, but that might not be such a good idea as it will probably alter the equilibrium of her life if you change things as she's becoming less 'with-it'. Not the ideal way to spend a holiday but at least you can go home eventually knowing you've done your bit :o)

Shelina said...

Those are pretty quilts. Maybe you can find a way to hang them up, so they don't get lost in the paper mess.
Don't take the fact that they were buried under paper as rejection or lack of appreciation. I'm sure they just got buried, and your Mom was missing them. I've got valuable things in my piles of paper too, although I am getting better about avoiding new piles.

meggie said...

I love the little birds too. What a shame they are not on display.
Old age can be very sad, but often the aged person is unaware they have got a little odd, & they can be quite happy.
Hard for you, Tanya.

Sonnja said...

Hello,

I like your little quilt.
Beautiful!
Regards.

Sonnja from the Netherlands