Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Evoking Memories




I finally got the tree up and decorated – I really am getting too old for this climbing on ladders, even little ones, but I love it too much to quit.  One of the best parts is hanging ornaments I’ve had for a long time.  The memories some of these evoke are precious to me.  One is a double memory-evoker.  I don’t remember where I first heard of making one, but it is a clear glass ball that I’ve filled with orts – the tiny ends of floss clipped off when I’m stitching.  I bought the ball at Michael’s, the craft and hobby shop chain.  This one is years old, from back when I first heard of doing this, back when I was just learning to really stitch.  I can even remember some of the pieces these orts came from.

I am currently filling a new glass ball with orts from the Dancing Skeleton and the Christmas Stocking, and whatever I work on next.

Today I am at last resuming Remicade treatments.  It’s an “infusion,” which means that every six weeks I sit in an extremely comfortable recliner and get hooked to an IV that puts a mixture into my bloodstream that knocks down my immune system.  I have psoriasis and, unfortunately, psoriatic arthritis, a double-whammy auto-immune disease.  I had to stop the treatments when I had the MRSA infection.  But I’ve been clear of any trace of it for a while, and my rheumatologist has ordered the Remicade to begin again.  I’m glad because my psoriasis has flared up and my joints are very painful.  And yes, we’ll be looking at my response to Remicade very closely as time goes on.  Just in case.

 It appears the extremely mild autumn and early winter weather we’ve been enjoying is ended.  Bitter cold and high winds are predicted for the next several days.  Fortunately, the snow that generally accompanies this change is all out in the Dakotas and up in the northernmost part of my state, not down here in the Twin Cities.  Up there, it’s blizzard conditions, but like they say, there’s nothing between them and the north pole but a barb-wire fence, and it’s down.

5 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

Lovely ornaments... but please do be careful! And hope your health issues improve and the weather stays bearable.

Annette said...

I like to collect ornaments from all the places my family and I have traveled to. The ornaments bring back memories of all of our fun trips.

Monica Ferris said...

When I was in England for two years, I would pick up a stone from anyplace I went - great memory evokers. But I wish not I'd collected Christmas tree ornaments. That's a much better idea!

Betty Hechtman said...

I like the ornament with the orts and what it means to you. I am currently in the apartment I grew up in. Every corner invokes memories. It fascinates me to think of all the changes the is place has witnessed in my life. My wedding reception was here and the reception after my father's memorial service. Also many, many holiday parties.

Monica Ferris said...

Many years ago I read a series of novels that were set in succeeding centuries, beginning back in the twelfth or thirteenth and coming down to the twentieth - each in the same English house. Watching the house grow and change down the years was fascinating. Wish I could remember the titles and author.