My Sweet William has passed....

My sweet husband passed on January 26th at 5:15pm last Thursday.  I was right with him until the end and he held my hand right to the last.  He was so strong and did not want to give up but he died an agonizing death over a 12 hour period.


I gave in and had Hospice come in the last 3 days as I could no longer lift him, etc.  They were wonderful and I cannot say enough about them!  They did not take his care out of my care but were so supportive and provided all the necessary supplies that I needed to care for my wonderful husband.  He bonded with them also in such a short time and they wept when he passed.


Bill loved life so much and enjoyed all the simple pleasures, fishing, camping, woodworking ad infinitum.  He was a very special person.  He has left a great legacy to our children and grandchildren of how to live an honorable Christian life.  All of our hearts are so heavy and my house is soooo empty.  But even in silence, the Lord and Bill are comforting me.  I am surrounded with their love.


Thanks to all of you who have followed his 7 yr. journey through Multiple Myeloma.  You will never know how much you helped me when I was sad and lonely, had a question, needed a verbal pat and hug, etc.  I am very grateful to all of you.


Love, Kerrie

Our silly Thanksgiving tradition and Wood Storks

This is our daughter Barbara with hubby yesterday!  Ever since the kids were little, Bill has taken the netting that comes around the turkey and put it on his head to make them laugh!  Yesterday, was no exception.  We celebrated with only our youngest daughter as everyone else was out of town and she couldn't wait to see her Dad wear the net for pictures!  Ha!  Our hero!

Multiple Myeloma has taken a lot from him but not his sense of humor!!  We had a very nice day and were justifiably stuffed with good food.  We were watching our two "granddogs" for our oldest daughter while she is away and here they are with their favorite guy.

It is really hard to see loved ones suffer with an illness and we are thankful for every moment we can still share with this wonderful man.
 The wood Storks hung around the little Lake in back of the house all week and we were so excited to see them.  One day one of the wood storks came with a huge Great Blue Heron.

They both hung out on the other bank in the sun for an hour at least!

Here is the Wood stork preening.

And here is the Blue Heron preening.

They were about 10 feet apart.


To see our fall Robins of this last week, please go to Two Happy blog, thanks!  Hope your holiday was special!

Thank you so much for stopping by and do come again soon.  

My wild heart to yours...

Hey Nonny Nah, the Gosling's back!

I was never so happy as to see the 3 goslings all intact after the Turtle Monster adventure of last week!!  This was the first visit since it happened and I was glad to see none of the goslings were limping and none no worse for the wear.  In fact they all had grown a bit since then!!  Here they are.

Note the other 2 adult geese that came with the group but stayed in the background while the family came right up to the window to greet us.

The goslings have grown much and their feathers are getting thicker, their wings longer.

I was so thrilled that the whole family was intact and that none of the babies were limping from the Snapping Turtle attack. 

You all will never know how much blogging helps me.  My hubby is having a very hard time at present with having gone back into chemotherapy for his Multiple Myeloma and is extremely anemic.  In the last few weeks he has had a blood transfusion for 2 pints of blood for the anemia and also an Aranesp injection for the same a week ago.  He is very weak and very depressed.  The blogs are my escape from the stress as his pain is my pain.  He will have a week off next week and we have scheduled a camping trip for Tues. through Thurs. nearby and pray that he will be able to enjoy himself for a couple of days away from all...  Thanks to all of you who follow my blogs and Caring Bridge for updates on Hubby.  You all mean so much to me.

♥KERRIE♥

My heart to yours...

SWEET AUGUST RAIN...

WE had a lovely summer shower this morning...

                     August Rain

        by Kerrie O'Hearn Marquart

Raindrops softly falling on thirsty summer rose,

Blades of grass are green, everywhere they grow.

A quiet peace comes over our little kingdom here

Trusting in the Lord, there is nothing that we fear.

Prayer request for my hubby who suffered a very bad Multiple Myeloma pain attack this morning.  He had resumed chemo just 2 weeks ago and it is like starting from day 1 after a 3 mos. rest to give his body a rest.  THANKS!

EGRETS Visit

Today when we woke, a great Egret came to visit as he usually does but instead of landing on the bank, he landed in the maple tree on the opposite side of our little lake.  I slid the den window open and snapped a couple of pictures before he flew farther down the lake to the bank. 

We love seeing all the birds and critters so much and never tire of them.
   There is no relief from the hot spell we are having here in SC with high humidity to boot!  I am really looking forward to fall this year but do not want to wish my summer away!
  I have been busy doing alterations for neighbors (shortening slacks, jeans and shorts)  But we are still hoping we can leave for our hometown next week for a class reunion before Hubby goes back on chemotherapy for the Multiple Myeloma. 
  The little garden is just about burned up since the "Monster Cucumber"-ha!  But the tomato plants have new blossoms and we are hoping to have a new crop of them soon.  My red onion is multiplying under the ground and sending up new shoots!  It was growing roots in my vegetable bin and had started a green shoot.  So I planted it and now 2 bulbs are showing just at the surface of the dirt and the other shoot is coming up about 5 inches away!  Love watching the miracle of how things grow!

Isn't this a darling young Blue Bird?  I call them "teens" at this stage of developement and they are so beautiful.  The suet block certainly attracts a lot of different birds!  At first the mother would come with the little one, take some suet and feed him.  Then he got the idea and comes to feed by himself now.

Hope you are enjoying our critters as much as we do.  Have a super day and come back soon to visit us in our little corner of the world...

♥ Kerrie

  

BLUE JAY DILEMMA

This morning the baby Blue Jay had a harrowing experience!!  A huge black crow was being chased and screamed at by 2 adult Blue Jays.  My hubby and dau. went outside to see what the commotion was about and followed the sky chase around to the front of the house.  When the crow got over the pavement, he dropped something.  They went to investigate and it was a baby Blue Jay!  They picked it up and put it under a bush and the parents tended to it.  He amazingly hopped to the back yard of the neighbors and finally snuggled in at the base of the house and snoozed, seemingly no worse for the wear!  I never knew that crows would do such a bold thing, I only knew they stole eggs but this was shocking!

Can you just imagine being picked up by a crow and taken away??  The poor parents were in a panic!

On a happier note, we have Orange Crowned Warblers (if identified correctly) taking up residence in the bird box/Squirrel box remodel!  They have been so busy and we read that if the nest is too deep that they will fill it with anything to get the height and then build the nest.  And that is exactly what they are doing.

This is the male

This is the female

View from inside the nest box through the wide hole made by the gnawing Squirrel.  The squirrel came to look and the Warblers dive bombed him and he left immediately- ha!

We are just so blessed to be able to see all of this wonderul wildlife and birds in our own backyard.  Hubby enjoys it immensely and takes an abundance of pictures.  He is napping now as his back is really giving him pain and we are wanting to catch it before it becomes a Multiple Myeloma Pain attack.  He is having a rest from chemo for the whole summer hopefully, depending on his lab tests every month.  Keep those wonderful prayers coming, they are greatly appreciated!

Kerrie ♥

A Poem for My Brother

This is a poem I wrote for my brother Christmas 1994.  I was recalling our childhood memories.

For my Brother, Merry Christmas 1994

©Kerrie O'Hearn Marquart

O' Christmas tree, O' Christmas Tree

How lovely are thy branches...

Many a time we pulled the sled

And bought a tree tagged in red

For a price that Mama wouldn't dread.

  And pulling home our prize, we dreamed of

   presents, a big surprise.

  That might lay beneath the branches

   right before our eyes.

The warmth of the little burners

Spread the branches reaching down

As we weighted them with tinsel,

Colored balls and garland.

  After all the ornaments were in place

   and the last icicle was hung,

  We admired our good work and sang

   until the last carol we knew was sung.

Ginger jells and chocolate cake from the bakery shop

Were brought from the Aunts who always stopped.

Ribbon Candy and nuts in the shell

Daddy ringing that tiny bell

As he opened the door and tales of,

"You just missed Santa:, he'd tell!

 Rich or poor, old or young,

 We still sing 'til the last carol is sung

And the Christmas lights will forever be

 In the little house on Logan Street

 Where dreams began and are now complete,

 Merry Christmas to you brother.

My husband had cancer treatment today as usual.  Cancer never takes a holiday.  But we were thankful that the nurses were smiley, efficient and loving.  He gets a lot of attention whenever he has treatment and he is an exceptionally good patient.  For the most part, they all love him as I do!  He takes it all in stride and continues on his now 4 yr. battle with Multiple Myeloma.  I made lunch for him when we returned home and the sun is shining so he could not just go to bed to rest.  He is out there fishing off the bank in the back yard in our little lake.  He doesn't want to miss a day of sunshine, a moment of life. 

Now he will have a break for a week from treatment and we relish those 7 days between.  The side effects from treatment last a few days and we pray he will feel well enough to enjoy tomorrow at our daughter's house for Christmas dinner.  But they take good care of him, too!  Our grandson who will be 13 this month, looks after Papa and makes him take a rest on his bed if Papa needs to and even covers him with a blanket.  That's what love is.  Cancer cannot stop Christmas from coming even as the GRINCH could not!  Love to you all this precious, blessed season!!  Kerrie

  Please don't forget to visit my Kerrie's Krafts 3 blog to see our latest creations in wood. Check out the page saver for an aid in reading your paperbacks!! And also my Etsy shop!  All links are in the sidebar-THANKS!                         

Thanks to all of you Sister Bloggers!

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A FRIEND!

We are all different and we are from far away places from each other but we are joined in our interests, our passionate beliefs, our morals, our loves, our cancers, our crafts and interests, our recipes, and our love for one another despite the distances and differences!  You have made my day when I signed on this morning and had a flood of comments on my various recent posts!  I was so thankful for the friendships, support, prayers and just sharing.  What a blessing you all are to me!  Before I developed my blogger friendships, I was very lonely.  I am homebound with my hubby most of my days.  He cannot walk far due to the Multiple Myeloma which is destroying his spine and bones.  So we cannot do the things we used to do like walking, canoeing, heavy remodel, long car trips, yard work.  We do just what he is able to do and he naps often so that he has the strength and inclination to make his wood items and perhaps visit the craft store or grocery shop.  He only drives when he feels absolutely well as he has syncope (feeling faint) much of the time.  And sometimes he gets a little confused.  But he makes me laugh part of every day, makes me little surprises of wood,  pushes himself to do some yard work, bakes (I am on a cholesterol/heart diet-ha!) and we give each other lots of forehead kisses when we pass by one another.  In otherwords, we are in love and spend everyday just thankful for life.  We are able to camp and Bill enjoys that very much.  Sometimes when we are camping, we forget that he has cancer for a short while!  It has been very theraputic.

You bloggers opened up a world to me and now I am not so lonely.  I enjoy your pets, your sharing illnesses, the visits to your lovely homes and shops, and personal notes that you write.  What more could a girl ask for!  Love you all!!

The craft show starts early eve for the residents in our community and we are packing things for transporting to the clubhouse and putting some last minute pricing.  I will take a picture of our set up when we finish this afternoon.