Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

It was going better…

Seriously, things were slowly creeping along in a slow but positive direction. He had even moved out of ICU to the step-down unit. It was all positive until this morning at 9:20 when his heart stopped. They performed CPR and got things going again and placed him back on the ventilator. He is now heading back to medical ICU. Maybe a true cause can be figured out today. We will see…

I’ll eventually post more. Sorry for keeping folks in the dark. I have been tired and not too thrilled at keeping all the info flowing out through all the different media.

Amee is here and the dogs are thrilled to have her back.

Off to Eugene!

Gale

Sunday

This was the Sunday report from my sister regarding Tom’s progress:

” Tom is off the ventilator. He is receiving oxygen, though just at his nose. He is coming off sedation, so is quite uncomfortable, though still has pain medications for the pancreatic pain. He is moving a lot and the wonderful nursing staff has their hands full keeping him from pulling on tubes. They told me he will have dialysis again tomorrow (Monday). I think he could comprehend what I said. His throat will be very sore for a while. I think the ventilator tube was taken out just shortly before I went in. He has developed a fever and is receiving Tylenol for that. His platelets are up some. His blood pressure is his own. Mainly though, the tube is out! Hurray.”

I managed to make it through the weekend at Open Studio. My energy level Sunday night was zapped. Today, Monday, will be filled with trying to tackle my brother’s apartment and business. Dave returned Sunday afternoon safe and sound. He too will be helping out with the “fun” today. I think Amee will be coming after all. We will be so happy to see you smiling face. Hopefully Tom will too, but I suspect he will be pissed off. Oh well, that’s what happens when people love you: they step up and show their love by visiting and helping out however they can!

At some point I need to go sorting through prints because several sold over the weekend. I should have just run my full edition of block prints way back! Who knew folks would actually purchase them. Plus the block prints have been a bigger seller than the reduction screen prints. Go figure!

Onwards with the “fun”

Doing better

Wow, what day are we at? I’m having a hard time keeping track of where I’ve posted and not posted information.

So, it’s Sunday and my brother has gone through 2 rounds of kidney dialysis. Back on Thursday night his body was in renal failure so they got the go ahead from my big sister to do dialysis. It seems to be doing the trick. His breathing is expected to be unaided today (removal of ventilation tubes etc) but he will continue to be hooked up to the feeding tubes and possibly the one removing stomach juices. He might be able to have extremely limited conversations. Kathy and Zac are heading back to Connecticut. Amee is hopefully canceling her massive flight from New Zealand. We’re hoping things are really moving in a positive direction.

I really don’t have much more to report at this time. I spent Saturday at the Open Studio tour. Huge winds and horizontal rain didn’t seem to keep the crowds away, infact we had better attendance than last year! 60 people on the first day! Judi’s driveway was swamped several times. We were happy folks braved the weather. Probably helped that it wasn’t a home game.

I’ll be back out there again today with my brain lacking in intelligence. For some reason I’m a bit mentally worn out. 🙂

More info on my brother

Hi all!

Yes, this is another update on my brother Tom. I have quite a few family members abroad who are keeping track of events through this post. Sorry, no art stuff.

The doctors have ruled out a clostridium difficile bacterial infection. His temperature is much higher and he has better color. Unfortunately there hasn’t been much positive change otherwise. The blood acid level has been too high. He was experiencing greater difficulty breathing so the rate was increased. This could possibly help alleviate the acid level issue, but it didn’t. The nephrologist spent a lot of time working through all his tests. A blood infection was determined last night and my sister ok’d the start of kidney dialysis. This might help give his body a chance to get an upper hand as they work to kill the infection.

Thursday his son and ex wife arrived from Connecticut. It’s good to have extra family coming in to visit. Even our Uncle Hal got word and was the first visitor of the day.

He has been fighting the sedatives given and actually has an extremely high tolerance, so visitation is very limited because he gets so worked up. He is restrained in the bed so not to do further damage to all the lines in and out of his body. Oh my there is a lot!

His ex girlfriend in New Zealand will be flying in on Monday. I’ll be running up to Portland to pick her up and take her down to Eugene.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this stuff.

Gale

Confronting death yet agin

Yesterday I almost lost my brother. I’m thankful he managed to call our sister and she had enough sense to tell him to call 911. The paramedics arrived as she pulled in. He was having breathing difficulties, skin was blue, hypothermic and severely dehydrated. He was rushed to the ER where the doctors there said to prepare for the worst. They ushered my sister into one of the family rooms with the chaplain. She called her son and myself to get there as quickly as possible. The doctors put him on life support and dumped 6 liters of fluid into his system. They ran him through CT scans, chest xrays and the works. Eventually they shifted him up to ICU where things were a bit calmer. The tests came back and he was experiencing severe pancreatitis. His internal organs (and whole body) had been deprived of oxygen. Amazingly his kidneys were still making urine, which was a very good sign. We don’t know how the rest of his body will do. We will take it day by day.

Next week we will have to move him out of his apartment. One of us will have to check on his business, answer messages, connect with clients waiting for product and just get it set for him not returning for months.

Oh, and he has no health care insurance. This is when I wish we lived in Canada or the UK. Anywhere but here in the land of extreme medical costs. Can’t worry about that now.

What a crazy life I live these days!

Pre-tour fun!

Cynthia Spencer Photo

We all had a blast last night visiting the first half of studios on the Philomath Open Studios pre-tour. Thursday night will cover the second half of studios. I ended up snagging a few images from my friend Cynthia Spencer who was smart enough to be taking photos along the way plus others taken by Mike Bergen and a few by me. Below: Judith Sander and I checking out Rhoda Fleischman’s beautiful ceramic work (with Kate McGee’s incredible pastels behind us). Makes me want to dip my toes back into the world of mud! Rhoda is the guest at Kate McGee’s studio. I wanted to purchase one of Kate’s works, but my friend Debby snagged it before me. You have to be quick with other artists around!

Cynthia Spencer Photo or was it Mike Bergen?

We love our potters in the area! This is Jeff Gunn sitting at his wheel. Both he and his wife, Sara Morrissey, are part of this year’s tour. Sara creates incredible fused glass sculptures, bowls and jewelry. I kick myself for not taking the check book last night!!!

Mike Bergen Photo

At Lee Kitzman’s Studio. Lee talking about some of his recent colors while sitting at his wheel.

How many artist’s can fit in one space? Quite a few! This is still at Lee Kitzman’s studio.

Judi’s studio and my home for the next two weekends!

1618314_274505862673436_3159514180186583520_o Mike Bergen Photo

Staying out of the way as everyone moves through. Judi’s work is filled with so much depth and layering. A must see up close!

1966104_274505882673434_2966192200618554231_o Mike Bergen photo

Cynthia’s bowls, mugs and canister. Will I be able to refrain from taking some home? Probably not!

My crazy corner filled with prints and lamps. The dog print mug order should arrive before the weekend start!

If you venture out, make sure you bring your umbrella and rain gear. It’s expected to be rather damp this weekend!

Getting squared away

I must confess, I’ve been checking my mailbox daily for this little package to arrive. It will allow me to keep track of inventory and sell my wares over the two big Philomath Open Studio Tour weekends. I’ve already stocked my online shop with all the goodies now residing at Judi’s place. Tuesday afternoon is the first round of the pre-tour showing. Since the artists are stuck in their studios over the weekend and we all want to see what everyone else is doing, a pre-tour extravaganza was created years ago. The schedule is tight and the group (36 artists plus spouses/partners) drive around to each studio and spend a whopping 15-20 min total at each location ( 15 studios split between two nights). It feels like musical chairs, but no one is left out. Our studio is on Tuesday’s schedule. I still need to take a few items over, price stickers, electrical strips for lights, furniture to boost up lamp height, adjust lights…. probably a few other things I’ve misplaced in my brain!

Today I’m working through my to do list. The Square account is connected and operational on my smartphone! Dogs are miffed about a lack of love. No major dog walks since last week. Dave left for a week of work in the Everglades. It’s certainly a different venue for him: field work. No hotel, all camping in hot muggy weather with bugs and lots of rain scheduled. Mmmmm, I’m kind of liking where I’m sitting right now. Time for a nice warm cuppa tea!

I’ll try to snap a few photos if I can. Dave took my camera to Florida. Smartphone to the rescue!

🙂

Stringy Pod Brooch

Here is the finished bit of craziness started yesterday.

Height- 4″

Width- 1.5″

Materials: mullberry paper, thread, encaustic wax, wire.

Gosh, that was pretty fun. I might have to play around more with small sculptures!

😀

Book and Brooch

A couple days ago I found a box of books while cleaning out more of the garage. These were the ones I was unable to part with after clearing out my parents home. Last night I pulled one out and started folding the above creation.This particular book was titled Analytical Mechanics for Engineers, 3rd edition, 1941. Nothing wild and crazy, but it was fun to try while watching TV in the dark. It might become a stand for cards during Open Studio Tour.

I’ve also started a wire & paper brooch. Below is just the general wire form. It will be hinged and involve thread & possibly wax. I’ll continue working on it today and post images as it evolves tomorrow.

Playing and counting down

Ten days until Philomath Open Studio Tour!

I’ve been hard at work and other things over the past 10 days. On the yummy end, we brined & smoked more salmon! Then vacuum packed for the freezer.

The threat of our first fall storm forced a roof clean (moss removal, empty the gutters and fix a few problems). I also took the opportunity to clean off the deck, take 500# of debris/garbage to the dump, organize the hazardous waste (still from my parents home) for this week’s collection date, plus bringing in the Plumeria plants (still in bloom) for winter. Fall cleaning before the rain! Amazing! And yes, the rain really did arrive.

Meme went in for her radiation treatment yesterday. I’ve been referring to it as the “kitty spa” where she will be spending Tu-Fri in comfort. Not really comfort, but at least she will be safe and warm and all the radiation will be out of her body by the time she comes home. Oh, what we do for our critters!

Art for the studio tour is pulling together. I signed up for a Square account so I’ll officially be able to accept credit cards. Plus I uploaded my inventory with photos to make it easier to keep track of everything over the 2 weekends. Oh, we’re getting fancy! I’m still wanting an iPad, but that will come later on. Since my body isn’t allowing me to make much these days, I started playing with a couple of other things. I’ll post photos as they come.